Boehringer Ingelheim, AEACaP, ICAPEM and ANIS have announced the IV 'Together We Live Life' scholarship, which will grant € 7,000 to a social project for the benefit of lung cancer patients and whose candidatures can be presented until June 10 through the web www.inoncology.com/juntossumamosvida.
The call is focused this year on proposals that respond to unmet needs of this group of patients. After the publication of the report “Lung cancer. Challenges and needs of the patient and their environment “13 of the outstanding challenges for this group that directly impact on their quality of life were revealed.
As Bernard Gaspar, president of the Association of People Affected by Lung Cancer (AEACaP) explains, “Lung cancer produces a turnaround in the lives of people who suffer from it. Patients and their environment must face a series of challenges that go beyond treatment and directly impact their quality of life. Medical visits, physical changes or the management of emotions are just some of them. This year we want to give voice to those projects that offer answers to these unmet needs “.
For his part, Javier de Castro, medical oncologist at the Hospital La Paz in Madrid and president of ICAPEM, believes that “although the therapeutic landscape has evolved in recent years, lung cancer represents one of the main current social health problems. In Spain, it is the third most common tumor type and accounts for about 20 percent of cancer deaths. Although research is essential to improve the effectiveness of therapies and achieve greater personalization of treatments, the support of the environment is essential for the patient. “
In this sense, “the fight of all those involved against lung cancer is fundamental to cover all the needs of this group of patients, from whom we develop therapeutic options to all those who join efforts to offer solutions to their daily needs,” says Holger J. Gellermann, medical director of Boehringer Ingelheim Spain. “That is why we will continue to do everything in our power to make these initiatives available to patients,” he adds.
For his part, Emilio de Benito, president of the National Association of Health Informants (ANIS), recalled “the importance of giving voice to all those actors who strive to get us to talk about lung cancer in the past , especially those initiatives that often go unnoticed but that suppose a fundamental support in the day to day of the patients “.
Previous editions
The initiatives presented in the previous editions have been related to such diverse topics as pulmonary rehabilitation, play workshops, psychological support programs or educational materials for patients. In 2016, the scholarship went to the Virgen del Rocío University Hospital of Seville, for the creation of a mobile application for nutritional support and respiratory rehabilitation. In 2017, the Kàlida-Sant Pau Foundation was awarded a virtual reality and mindfulness project. And in 2018, to the University Hospital La Paz of Madrid for the development of an application for the integral control of the patient.