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BOSTON – Breast cancer has surpassed cervical-uterine cancer as a leading cause of death among women in Mexico and other Latin American countries, Harvard Professor Felicia Knaul told journalists during an Oct. 25-28 workshop organized by the pharmaceutical company Merck and the Institute of the Americas.

Dr. Knaul spoke with journalists about the rise of breast cancer in Latin Americas and her own fight against the disease.  Reporters also heard from one of her patients, a 24-year-old woman now undergoing chemotherapy.

Dr. Knaul briefed reporters on her in-depth report on the control of cancer and access to cancer care. The report, titled, “Closing the Cancer Divide: A Blueprint to Expand Access in Low and Middle Income,” notes that the incidence of breast cancer and the mortality of patients is increasing in low- and middle-income countries.  The report (http://bit.ly/uCKhcH), released at the Harvard Medical School Symposium on Oct. 28, the final day of the workshop, cites Mexico and Costa Rica in case studies.

Once considered a problem only in wealthy countries, cancer is now a leading cause of death in low- and middle-income countries, the report notes. Some 55 percent of the world’s 12.7 million new cases reported each year occur in these countries.  More than 2.4 million cancer deaths in developing countries could be avoided each year by using prevention and treatment interventions that are affordable and widely available, according to the report.

During the 9^th Annual Latin American Science and Health Journalism Seminar, 15 health and science reporters from the region interacted with experts and patients about women and health in Latin America and the Caribbean. They also learned about the cultural dimensions of diabetes, new responses to hepatitis C, the changing burden of disease and about the discovery of new therapies in cancer and respiratory disease based on work being done at the Merck Research Laboratories adjacent to the Harvard University campus.

IOA and Merck collaborate each year to offer health and science training to Latin American journalists in an ongoing effort to inform citizens, health professionals and policymakers about health challenges in the Western Hemisphere.

“Your group of journalists and your program is so very important to promoting health -- especially among women -- in Latin America,” said Dr. Knaul.

Lee Tablewski, training program director at the Institute of the Americas, said the large representation of women among the health journalists participating in the workshop reflects the important role women play in caring for family health.

"Women make the majority of health decisions in Latin America and the Caribbean,” Tablewski said.

Reporters spoke with three giants of public health – PAHO Deputy Director Jon Andrus, Harvard Professor Anna Langer, and Dr. Julie Gerberding, president of Merck Vaccines – about ways of addressing the challenges of health for the region’s women.  Among those challenges, 14% of teen girls in the Americas are pregnant or have children and women continue to die during childbirth in unacceptable numbers, said Dr. Andrus.

Dr. Gerberding, former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, talked about the importance of debunking myths about vaccines, particularly for the well-being of children who are not getting vaccinated in sufficient numbers because of “junk science” reported as fact by some professional journalists and amateur bloggers.

Tulane University’s Luis Balart, one of the world's leading doctors of gastroenterology and hepatology, told reporters that hepatitis C is on the verge of being overcome with the emergence of new treatments.

But obesity among children is an epidemic, leading to a host of other non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Some 45% of disease in the region is caused by cardio disease. Roughly 25% of the population in the region suffers from a chronic disease.  Failing to respond to chronic disease will cost $30 trillion globally by 2030, according to PAHO’s Dr. Andrus.

The seminar concluded with a day of talks and tours of Merck Research Labs in Boston, where high-tech, cutting-edge discovery work focuses on new medications for oncology, respiratory, and immuno-inflammation diseases.