philanthropic impact
Goldman Sachs Supports Efforts to Reduce and Prevent Breast Cancer in China
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Breast cancer is the most common type of malignancy among Chinese women, and it’s on the rise. There were 215,600 new breast cancer diagnoses in China in 2011, a nearly 60 percent increase from just nine years earlier. The median age of Chinese women with breast cancer is 48— roughly 10 years younger than their Western counterparts. And China’s breast cancer mortality has doubled over the past 30 years. Often, breast cancer diagnoses aren’t made until women are already suffering late-stage cancer. A new $1.7 million grant from Goldman Sachs Gives to Harvard School of Public Health is aimed at reversing these grim trends. As part of Goldman Sachs Gives’ Breast Cancer Education and Awareness Initiative in China,
global head of growth markets at Goldman Sachs. “As one
launched in 2011, a faculty team at the School, led by
of the most highly regarded institutions in public health
Yuanli Liu, senior lecturer in the Department of Global
with extensive experience in China—and thus attuned to
Health and Population, is developing scientifically sound
the cultural, social, economic, and political dynamics in the
and culturally sensitive breast cancer awareness and train-
country—we think HSPH can make an immense contribu-
ing materials and curricula for the Chinese provinces of
tion to our efforts of building evidence-based models for
Hunan and Sichuan and the Tianjin metropolitan area—
breast cancer awareness and developing the first standard-
that can be replicated and scaled up nationwide. The
ized series of disease education curriculum in China that
project will support the All-China Women’s Federation and
can be scaled nationwide.”
the Chinese Ministry of Health in their efforts to promote
The new breast cancer initiative builds on the School’s 30-plus years of collaborations with colleagues in China. For
breast cancer awareness and prevention. “This project provides an incredible opportunity for
example, Liu also leads HSPH efforts in conducting applied
Harvard faculty from diverse disciplines—health systems,
research, convening global leaders for high-level policy
epidemiology, oncology, health communication, and social
dialogues and providing leadership education for China’s
and behavioral sciences—to come together to design
health-policy makers and senior health executives. HSPH
and evaluate an evidence-based model for breast cancer
faculty have also helped China tighten air-quality standards
awareness and education in China,” says Vish Viswanath,
and piloted a low-cost health insurance system that now
associate professor of social and behavioral sciences and a
covers more than 90 percent of the country’s rural popula-
co-investigator on the China breast cancer project. “If we
tion, an estimated 600 million people.
develop a successful model, this has the potential to save
Others on the breast cancer project team include Wendy
“We’re funding the Harvard School of Public Health
cancer oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI);
because we believe this world-class institution is uniquely
Shoba Ramanadhan, SD ’08, a research scientist at the DFCI
positioned to advance the goals of our work already under
Communication Laboratory; and HSPH associate dean Karen
way in China,” says J. Michael Evans, vice chairman and
Emmons, who leads the advisory committee for the project.
14 Harvard Public Health
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Chen, MPH ’99, assistant professor of medicine and a breast
millions of lives.”