NOBCCF has proposed a program in 2006 to encourage professional training and quality care guidelines for groups who offer support and outreach programs in northern Ohio.

 

In recent years, we've seen an increase in problems with education, support and outreach programs where survivors and the public are often given false or misleading information about breast cancer risk factors, treatment and follow up care.  There has been an alarming increase in programs that discourage patients from seeking conventional evidence based health care in favor of "alternative medicine" and bogus cures that have no scientific evidence supporting their effectiveness.  Volunteer and other groups need to be aware of what quality health care information is and how to get those messages out to women in the community. 

 

In addition, support groups are often providing advice and services to breast cancer patients and survivors without understanding the limitations and side effects of breast cancer treatment, sometimes resulting in potentially harmful and emotionally distressing situations for survivors.

 

Everyone in the community will benefit from education efforts that provide support service and education providers with the latest tools in understanding breast cancer detection, treatment and follow up care.  We're encouraged that everyone will join in the effort to bring our area up to national standards and ensure those who offer programs related to breast cancer have staff that regularly receives a minimum number of hours each year in certified continuing education programs. In the end it will save lives.

 

Watch for more information and call us if you have questions or suggestions.

The former head of the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Andrew Von Eschenbach, now acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, is proposing quicker drug approval for drugs to prevent and treat fatal diseases.

 

Here's a link to the article at the Baltimore Sun.

 

"We can improve the processes by which that developmental process occurs, is regulated and is approved," von Eschenbach told the Personalized Medicine Coalition, an industry group.

Von Eschenbach also vowed to make faster drug approval "one of my highest priorities," however long he leads the agency.

The idea behind "personalized medicine" is that doctors will be able to prevent and treat serious diseases more effectively with genetic tests telling them which patients are at high risk of falling ill and which therapies will best treat those already sick, supporters say.

But some scientists caution that quick approvals of the treatments may come at the expense of a thorough understanding of possible side effects. They are especially concerned about the FDA allowing use of drugs without putting them through random testing. "

We're looking forward to a great evening and hope you can attend.  Funds raised from this event help pay for NOBCCF's information and referral services, Lend A Helping Hand and education and advocacy programs, including scholarships to NBCC's Annual Advocacy Conference and ProjectLEAD.  If you can't attend, please make a tax deductible donation.  Thanks for your support!