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If you have breast cancer you’re eligible for a free influenza vaccination and now is the best time to be immunised before the coming season of winter ills sets in.
The annual immunisation can protect you from influenza and the health complications this serious disease can cause when you’re vulnerable due to cancer treatment.
“People with ongoing medical conditions are especially at high risk from influenza complications which can lead to the development of pneumonia, a stay in hospital or even death,” comments Dr Lance Jennings, virologist and National Influenza Specialist Group (NISG) spokesperson.
BCAC’s new Metavivors NZ group is pushing to see the chemotherapy drug, Abraxane, funded so that women with secondary breast cancer no longer have to pay privately for it.
BCAC recently helped to set up the Metavivors NZ group for women with advanced breast cancer to advocate for better treatment, support and care for this group.
The term ‘Metavivor’ refers to women who are living and thriving with secondary breast cancer and recognises that many women can live for years with metastatic cancer.
There is a strong ‘Metavivor’ movement in the United States where women with secondary breast cancer are extremely vocal about the need for research into advanced breast cancer.
BCAC is fighting to get Sovereign Insurance to change its policy and reimburse women for the full cost of a breast reconstruction.
BCAC was recently contacted by Carolyn Kane who was diagnosed with breast cancer and is now seeking a breast reconstruction following her mastectomy.
Carolyn thought she would be able to get her breast reconstruction covered by her health insurance with Sovereign Insurance, but unfortunately Sovereign will only pay $15,000 towards a breast reconstruction after mastectomy because it is deemed to be a cosmetic procedure. You can read more about this issue here.
NZ House and Garden House Tours
Event Dates: 7 – 28 March, 2014
Where: Auckland Friday March 7
Wellington Friday March 14
Christchurch Friday March 21
Auckland Country Tour Friday March 28
For the second year running, BCAC has funded a young New Zealand breast cancer survivor to attend the annual C4YW conference for young women with breast cancer.
The conference, hosted by the Young Survival Coalition and Living Beyond Breast Cancer, was held in Orlando, Florida and was attended by Aucklander Emma Crowley, a 26-year-old who has recently finished treatment for breast cancer.
Emma says the conference was an amazing opportunity to meet inspirational women who’ve been through the same thing as she has.
“It was of great value to have access to an abundance of information in one forum; and expressly aimed at young women”
The Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) recently helped to set up a ‘Metavivors’ group in order to advocate for better treatment and care for women with advanced breast cancer.
BCAC chair, Libby Burgess, says women with secondary breast cancer have specific needs and all too often these are ignored or not prioritised.
“The aim of the Metavivors NZ group is to provide a voice for women with advanced breast cancer in New Zealand in order to raise awareness of their specific needs and to advocate for medicines, treatment options and support to benefit them,” Libby says.
Renewed questions have been raised about the value of mammograms after a Canadian study suggested that it does not reduce the number of deaths from breast cancer.
BCAC chair Libby Burgess says while the latest research is thought-provoking, it should in no way prompt New Zealand women to stop getting their free mammograms every two years through BreastScreen Aotearoa.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal, compared Canadian women who had annual mammograms with those who had a physical examination only and concluded that there was no real difference in the number of breast cancer deaths in the two groups.
New research suggests that young women who smoke more than a pack of cigarettes a day have a much higher risk of developing the most common type of breast cancer.
The study, published in the journal Cancer, shows that young women who smoke are 30 per cent more likely to develop oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer, compared with those who have never smoked.
More worryingly, those who are heavy smokers (a pack a day for at least a decade) were 60 per cent more likely to develop this form of breast cancer.
Today is World Cancer Day and BCAC is backing the global campaign to reduce the stigma associated with cancer and dispel myths about it.
Each year around 7.6 million people worldwide die from cancer and World Cancer Day aims to help prevent deaths by raising awareness and improving education about the disease.
BCAC chair, Libby Burgess, says it’s an important day to acknowledge that we can all do something to help prevent cancer by educating others about the disease.
“All too often, people are not aware of the signs and symptoms of cancer, or they’re not aware of screening programmes to help detect the disease or new medicines to help treat the disease.
BCAC is thrilled to see the country’s free breast screening programme, BreastScreen Aotearoa, is now fully digital.
The move was announced by the Associate Minister of Health, Jo Goodhew, today, who said it was a “significant milestone in the Government’s commitment to improved technology and access to high quality breast screening services”.
BCAC chairperson, Libby Burgess, says the move from x-ray film to digital images it is a big step forward.
