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A group of Kiwis with secondary breast cancer have made a desperate video plea in support of a campaign for greater access to medicines to give them a better chance at life.
The moving video is part of the Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition’s (BCAC) drive to get thousands to sign an open letter to the Minister of Health calling for an urgent increase in funding for medicines.
BCAC’s chair, Libby Burgess, says the campaign launches on October 13, Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day, and highlights the distressing plight of women with secondary breast cancer.
You can find out more about medicines access in New Zealand and new treatments available for breast cancer on the following sites.
Medicines in New Zealand:
More treatment options are needed to extend and improve the lives of New Zealanders with advanced breast cancer.
Different medicines are needed for the different sub-types of breast cancer (hormone receptor positive/negative, HER2 positive/negative, triple negative, etc.), and different patients with the same sub-type may respond differently to a single medicine. On top of this, as breast cancer progresses, different medicines are needed to suppress tumour growth and spread.
Each year in New Zealand more than 400 women and men will be diagnosed with secondary breast cancer (also known as metastatic or advanced breast cancer). On this page you can view videos of women and men talking about their experiences living with advanced breast cancer. These videos were filmed in November 2015.
In recent years a number of innovative new medicines have become available for the treatment of early and advanced breast cancer. However, many of these medicines are not funded in New Zealand. Some are available privately if a patient is able to pay for them and many are available and publicly funded in Australia.
All these drugs offer potential advantages in quality and length of life for New Zealanders with breast cancer and would give oncologists additional options for optimising treatment of the different sub-types of breast cancer.
We also list some new medicines that are still being investigated in breast cancer clinical trials for effectiveness and safety.
Thank you for signing this letter to the Minister of Health asking him to give New Zealanders better access to medicines.
Please share this page on Facebook so that others can add their voice!
To see how important better access to medicines is, please watch the video below featuring New Zealanders with secondary breast cancer who desperately need new medicines now.
Storage King NZ is turning pink again this breast cancer month to help support the Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) and the thousands of New Zealanders diagnosed with breast cancer each year.
Now in its fourth year Storage King NZ’s October campaign will see $1 from very tea chest sold during the month donated to BCAC.
“Our previous October campaigns have raised more than $10,000 for BCAC and we are proud to be doing more again this year to add to that significant donation, says Storage King spokesperson, Tony Walker.
Mr Walker continues, “Our staff across the country are looking forward to transforming their stores for the month with a sea of pink, balloons and enthusiasm for this worthy cause.”
There are a number of organisations which provide specific support and assistance for women with advanced breast cancer. These include:
Advanced breast cancer is a difficult diagnosis to deal with.
It can also be very difficult for partners, family members and friends to deal with and some may find the diagnosis harder to accept than the person with the disease.
Family members and friends may find they are unable to cope with the emotions a diagnosis of secondary breast cancer brings and they may withdraw or they may not know what to say.
Many women say the diagnosis of advanced breast cancer is often harder to deal with than the initial diagnosis.
You may experience fear, anguish, sadness, anxiety, or a sense of detachment. These are all normal and it is best to just "go with them" rather than to push them away or to deny them.
Many people advocate being positive and this is a good thing to do, but it is not always possible. If you are feeling sad, down or angry then feel these emotions, don't berate yourself for not being positive. It's hard to be positive when you have such a tough diagnosis to deal with. But if you can try to find the positive in life, the joy, the happiness ... then do so.
