It is a struggle to deal with a family member having cancer emotionally, physically and financially. The burden of paying for a family member’s hospital bills makes it difficult to pay for other things like food, shelter and clothing. The Max Foundation in Argentina has stepped up to this challenge by helping cancer patients get the treatment that they need.

Poverty Rates

Argentina’s poverty rate was 35.5% at the end of 2019, which shows a steady increase over the past few years. The poverty rate of children younger than 14 is 53%. The statistics have gotten better in the six years prior to 2018, an 18.7% drop in poverty rates. However, COVID-19 has not been kind to Argentina as the country continues to battle its two-year recession.

Disease

In addition to the poverty rate and pandemic, Argentina is not immune to cancer either. Every year more than 110,000 people are diagnosed with some form of cancer in Argentina. Some of the causes of cancer in this country are tobacco and HPV.

Around 22% of the population smokes and children who are between the ages of 13 and 15 are six points higher than that. Out of all the deaths caused by cancer, 26% are caused by tobacco. Argentina does have the resources to enact preventative measures. The country has even enacted breast cancer screening, although most women do not attend regularly. However, more could still be done.

That’s why organizations like the Max Foundation are so important. Poverty is hard enough to try to overcome when one is healthy let alone when having to fight cancer. Cancer patients need organizations like the Max Foundation, so they have one less thing to worry about during the tough fight for their life.

The Max Foundation

The Max Foundation has been around since 1997. The Rivarola family left Argentina to travel to the U.S. to get cancer treatment for their son Max. The organization was founded when he passed away. Other families in Latin America have children with leukemia just like Max, and the Rivarola family wanted to do something for them.

Now, The Max Foundation provides cancer treatments to countries all around the world. The world has seen that viruses like COVID-19 have no borders and neither does cancer. The Max Foundation almost has no borders as well. It has served 73 countries and given over 11 million cancer treatments to people as of the start of 2017.

The Max Foundation works by offering help to patients whose doctors have recommended them. The organization then gets the medicine to them through the partner companies. The medicine is donated by pharmaceutical companies like The Tanner Pharma Group.

Argentina’s poverty rate has not been helped by the recent pandemic. COVID-19 is not diminishing cancer diagnosis either. But there is still hope. The Max Foundation has been helping cancer patients for years and they are a light in the dark for the cancer patients of Argentina as well as many other countries around the world.

– Moriah Thomas
Photo: Flickr