National Breast Cancer Foundation Partners with George E. Bush Institiute and Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon

Oct. 29, 2012 - PRLog -- (Dallas, Texas) October 29, 2012 – The National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.® (NBCF) today announced its official partnership with Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon (PRRR) and its host organization, the George W. Bush Institute, to fuel the fight against cancer in developing countries.

NBCF’s $500,000 financial commitment over five years will create a crucial job in Zambia, a health promotions manager. This mission critical position will develop health programming, advocate for PRRR activities, and research and develop innovative models for cancer care that can be scaled up and applied globally.

“Most women in Sub-Saharan Africa don’t have access to vital breast and cervical cancer screening and treatment,” said NBCF Founder and CEO Janelle Hail. “This partnership helps us expand NBCF’s mission of providing free education and care on a global level that will support communities and save lives through early detection.”

PRRR is a new initiative developed from an innovative partnership including the George W. Bush Institute, U.S. Department of State, U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); and seven corporate members including: Becton, Dickinson and Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Caris Foundation, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, Merck, and QIAGEN.

The partnership will leverage public and private investments in global health to combat cervical and breast cancer, two of the leading causes of cancer death in women, in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. PRRR aims to reduce deaths from cervical cancer by 25 percent among women who are screened and treated through the program; significantly increase access to breast and cervical cancer early detection as well as screening and treatment programs; and create innovative models that can be scaled-up and applied globally.

In a speech at the designation of the African Center of Excellence for Women’s Cancer Control in Lusaka, Zambia, earlier this year, President George W. Bush expressed his thanks for the organizations that are devoted to the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative, saying, “Thanks to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. They are going to pay for a health promotion manager so the government will now have somebody dedicated full time to educating women about cervical and breast cancer. So they know that being screened earlier, or being screened at all, is an effective way to produce solid results.”

There is a pervasive stigma in many developing countries where there is little hope for those diagnosed with cancer. Lack of information, education, and available health care services currently limit survival. This new partnership builds upon a $200,000 pledge by Susan G. Komen to improve existing infrastructure, screening services and survival rates through the training of high-level breast cancer health providers and medical specialists in early detection, diagnosis and management through a specialized technical assistance partnership with a US-based university. By providing accurate, culturally appropriate cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment information and education, more women will demand services and the disease can be down-staged.

“We are proud to work together with the Bush Institute and other PRRR founding partners to empower women to take charge of their health,” said Hail. “By providing access to early diagnosis and life-saving treatment, increasing awareness of breast and cervical cancer prevention, and offering support, we are committing to a new era of breast cancer awareness in Africa.”

Contact:

Jansen White

jansen@powerpublicrelations.com

512-818-7202

Kate Johnson

kate@powerpublicrelations.com

318.564.5442