U.S.-Middle East Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research

Released by the Middle East Partnership Initiative
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
U.S. Department of State
June 28, 2007

"By confronting the challenge of breast cancer together, this partnership ... will help build lasting friendships between our countries. Most important, this partnership will help women throughout the Middle East find hope in a life free from breast cancer."
-- First Lady Laura Bush

Women around the Middle East are coming together to fight a devastating and deadly disease that has impacted millions of women and their families around the world: breast cancer.

The need is urgent. Breast cancer continues to be the most common cause of cancer-related death among women, and, in the broader Middle East, awareness and early detection of the disease remain too rare.

Partnering To Save Women's Lives

Just 25 years ago, low awareness and late detection among American women made breast cancer difficult to discuss and treat. Now American women and organizations are responding to requests from women in the Arab world to share their experience in grassroots organizing and coalition building, which dramatically improved awareness and treatment in the U.S.

With the support of the State Department’s Middle East Partnership Initiative, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center are working closely with women, government officials, physicians, and medical organizations in the Middle East, beginning in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, and expanding to additional countries. They are sharing experiences and expertise to increase breast cancer awareness, improve medical research, and train women for community outreach.

A Year of Action

In the first year of the U.S.-Middle East Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research, grassroots advocacy organizations, medical institutions, and government agencies have contributed tremendous expertise and resources:

• Susan G. Komen for the Cure facilitated three Breast Cancer 101 training sessions for women in the workplace at Citibank UAE; female university students in Abu Dhabi; and medical personnel in Amman. As a result of successes in the Middle East, Komen for the Cure is expanding its global outreach and will pilot a curriculum for breast cancer outreach, advocacy, community engagement and fundraising in 10 countries in 2008 and beyond, including in the Middle East.
• The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center invited delegations from Jordan and Saudi Arabia to participate in its prestigious Sister Institution Conference dedicated to global oncology (June 2007).
• A multi-disciplinary team of 25 M. D. Anderson breast cancer clinical and research faculty members have volunteered to help develop collaborations in breast cancer prevention, research, clinical care and education.
• Country launches of the partnership were held in the UAE (October 2006) and Jordan (March 2007), with hundreds of women participating in each country.
• The Government of the UAE is implementing a five-year strategy to lower breast cancer mortality rates.
• The U.S. Agency for International Development has pledged additional support for breast cancer initiatives at King Hussein Cancer Center in Jordan.

The goal: Help save the lives of Arab women by sharing expertise and lessons learned -- working with the women of the region and drawing on their own unique experiences and cultural perspectives to take action against breast cancer.