Highlighting 10 Years of Collaboration and Success in Preventing Infections in Cancer Patients
At the CDC Foundation, we are committed to protecting the public’s health, and I believe our efforts save and improve lives every day. By combining private resources with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) world-class scientific expertise, our collaborations help create greater impact than any one entity could alone.
One example is the Preventing Infections in Cancer Patients (PICP) program, which has been led by CDC and the CDC Foundation since 2009, with financial support from Amgen. The goal of this program is to provide evidence-based tools and resources for patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals to help fight back against the risk of infection during chemotherapy treatment.
Each year, more than half a million patients with cancer are treated with chemotherapy, and according to CDC, infections that are linked to neutropenia are some of the most serious side effects, which can lead to hospitalization, disruption in treatment or even death.
After 10 years, we know this program is making a difference. With more than 1.5 million downloads of our educational materials, we have continued to extend its reach with educational tools like TINA (Training for Infection and Neutropenia Awareness), a fully animated virtual healthcare provider, and an English and Spanish website featuring educational information and a risk assessment tool. To help celebrate the program’s tenth anniversary, the program developed its first-ever public service announcement (PSA) highlighting the importance of infection prevention during chemotherapy and tips on how people with cancer can lower their infection risk.
Like many things, I truly believe the success of this program is rooted in people, including those at Amgen who have made a commitment to this program for 10 years; the people at CDC and the CDC Foundation who work diligently on evolving the program and its resources; the people who diagnose, treat and care for cancer patients; and, most importantly, the people who are battling cancer.
Happy anniversary to the Preventing Infections in Cancer Patients program! If you or someone you love has cancer, I encourage you to check out this program and its resources. It is my hope this program will continue to protect the lives of cancer patients for many more years to come.
#10YearsStrong
