MANILA, Philippines – Ro strengthen its cancer-related programs and services in Southeast Asia, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has began networking with health- and cancer-related non-government organizations (NGOs) that will assist the ACS in working with national governments, in partnership with the Pfizer Foundation of the United States.
In the Philippines, it found a formidable ally in ICanServe Foundation (ICS) that launched Ating Dibdibin, the country’s first community-based breast cancer screening program piloted in Marikina City in 2007.
Of the bigger and more experienced local NGOs it could have partnered with, the ACS chose ICS because it looks for organizations with strong community standing and a good local and national reputation.
“We don’t necessarily select the most established or popular organization. Rather, we are interested in building a diverse group of advocates that can collectively serve the broader cancer control community and greater population at large, which represents a wide range of individuals affected by cancer. This leads us to consider newer groups,” says the American Cancer Society’s Loyce Pace Bass.
In 2007 and 2008m ICS organized a culinary bazaar at the Rockwell Tent in Makati City in a creative effort to drum up public interest on breast cancer and Ating Dibdibin.
In addition, ICS was able to roll out an effective cancer advocacy and awareness campaign in a short period of time, notes Bass.
Bass, lady director of regional programs for the International Affairs Department at the ACS, is impressed at how ICS has taken cancer advocacy to the next level by tapping and working with not only partners at the grassroots level but also well-known and world-renowned Filipino celebrities.
Bass was among a group of ACS representatives who were recently in Manila to host, together with ICS, the first ACS-led regional training on cancer control.
The Philippines was considered a perfect venue for hosting the event because of ICS and the notable example it can showcase about cancer awareness and advocacy through its Ating Dibdibin project. Bass feels that the other Southeast Asian partners of ACS will have a lot to learn from it and also share best practices with one another.
A case in point is Malaysia’s “Men Care” project, where husbands encourage and accompany their wives to undergo a breast screening exam. Launched in 2002, it strongly focuses on Malay ethnic women who oftentimes are already on Stage 2 or 3 of breast cancer by the time they seek medical intervention for the first time.
“We found out that most women do not want to seek medical consultation for fear that their husbands would leave them if they test positive for breast cancer,” shares Ang Eng Suan, Malaysian representative and project coordinator of “Men Care.”
The partnership between the ACS and ICS was made possible by the sponsorship grant extended by Pfizer Philippines Foundation Inc., in support of health-related organizations in the country. This initiative is a part of the Pfizer company’s international efforts to help improve health policies by tapping into its global health grant worth $33-million for its multi-year program partnership.