Akbaraly Foundation prevention and early diagnosis to fight female cancers and save the lives of thousands of women
On World Cancer Day, we want to dedicate this editorial space to the Akbaraly Foundation, chaired and founded by Cinzia Catalfamo Akbaraly, to present the extraordinary results it achieved in a complex time such as the one we are all experiencing due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We want to congratulate the Foundation on the commitment and professionalism that has brought significant results and great support to the Malagasy population, especially for vulnerable children and women’s health.
Luigi Lauro
The Akbaraly Foundation has provided health services to 27,489 women and children of Madagascar in 2020, a difficult and complex year due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has not, however, stopped the Foundation’s humanitarian activities in the area.
It is the second highest yearly result in the history of the Foundation, which brings the total number of patients helped from 2013 to today to 130,103, an extraordinary number achieved thanks to the constant and active commitment of doctors, cytologists, midwives, nurses and all the logistic staff and administrative staff involved in the project, in addition to the tens of thousands of people who participate in our awareness campaigns.
The Akbaraly Foundation, created in 2008 by Cinzia Catalfamo Akbaraly, is active against extreme poverty and inequalities in Madagascar, where it develops sustainable projects that are capable of creating resilient communities.
The flagship of the Foundation’s activities is 4aWoman, a scalable and sustainable project created in 2010 in partnership with the local Ministry of Health, the WHO, the IEO and the Veronesi Foundation, dedicated to the prevention and early diagnosis of female cancers, whose motto is “care for a woman, life for a country.”
In over 10 years of activity on the ground, the Foundation has opened two health centers, a Mobile Unit with a telemedicine service capable of reaching the most remote areas of the country, a galenic laboratory and a network of hospitals that work closely with the project.
Over time, the services offered have increased according to the real needs of the population, including maternal and child health, the prevention and treatment of malnutrition, pediatrics, orthopedics, kinesitherapy and the administration of vaccines. In 2020, our reach has increased further, thanks to the opening of the new Kintana health center in the capital, Antananarivo, which this year has been completely dedicated to the care of patients affected by Covid-19.
Our goal, confirms President and Founder Cinzia Catalfamo Akbaraly, is to promote the right to health, meaning the possibility of achieving a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not simply the absence of disease
Our action is particularly important in vulnerable countries such as Madagascar, and we want to strongly reiterate this on the occasion of the annual appointment with the World Cancer Day, organized by the International Union Against Cancer every 4 February
says the Founder.
The data collected by our team on the ground show that many women are at risk of developing cervical or breast cancer: the positive rate for Pap smears is close to 14%, especially in the under 25 age and 40 to 45 age groups; for breast cancers, the percentages similar, with positivity rates exceeding 10%.
60% of new cancer cases are found in developing countries such as Madagascar, one of the 10 poorest nations in the world, where this disease is one of the leading causes of death for women.
Thanks to our awareness-raising, research, training, prevention and early diagnosis actions, we can save the lives of thousands of women, giving them the opportunity to actively contribute to the well-being and development of their family, their community and the entire country
concludes Cinzia Catalfamo Akbaraly.
