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

This month, survivors of breast cancer celebrate the one year anniversary of First Lady Laura Bush’s launch of the U.S.-Middle East Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research.­ The partnership, supported by the U.S. Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), has helped save lives through providing women with world-class research to improve awareness on the fight against breast cancer. 

In its first year alone, the partnership has sparked a series of impressive actions by its members:

-- Susan G. Komen for the Cure facilitated Breast Cancer 101 training sessions in the UAE and Jordan 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 will pilot a detailed curriculum for breast cancer outreach, advocacy, community engagement, and fundraising in 10 countries in 2008 and beyond, including 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 in June 2007.  Renowned experts from 47 delegations representing 20 countries engaged in active breast cancer research planning.

-- The UAE began implementing a comprehensive strategy to lower breast cancer mortality rates within five years.

-- The U.S. Agency for International Development has pledged additional support specifically for breast cancer initiatives at the King Hussein Cancer Center in Jordan.

The U.S.-Middle East Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research is a response to calls from women in the Middle East working on breast cancer grassroots advocacy, research, training, community outreach, and women’s empowerment. It is active in the UAE and Jordan. It will expand to additional countries next year.