Building bridges to cancer prevention and early detection in Puerto Rico
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cassie Smith
Cassie.Smith@preventcancer.org
One of the most fulfilling roles of the Congressional Families Program and the Prevent Cancer Foundation is to build bridges with those who share our commitment to cancer prevention and early detection. In March, we did just that when we traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico, with our colleague, Erica Childs Warner, MPH, Managing Director of Research, Education and Outreach, to spotlight two of our community grantees; VOCES Coalición de Inmunización y Promoción de la Salud (VOCES) and Migrant Clinicians Network, Inc. (MCN) are recipients of $100,000 Foundation grants to increase cancer prevention and early detection through patient navigation.
We were honored to connect these impactful community groups with Puerto Rico’s newly appointed and elected government leaders: Dr. Victor Ramos, Secretary of Health under Governor Jeniffer González, and Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández Rivera and his wife, Monica Pascual. We attended a health fair near Canóvanas outside San Juan, where Rep. Hernández shared publicly for the first time his deep and personal connection to colorectal cancer prevention on the first day of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month: Symptoms he experienced in his 20s—and his family history—prompted him to get screened for colorectal cancer prior to the recommended screening age of 45. He had polyps, or growths, removed that could have potentially developed into colorectal cancer. Rep. Hernández emphasized the importance of screening, a message echoed by Secretary Ramos at a community health workers training session later that day.
On Sunday, we attended a 5k walk/run hosted by VOCES at Historic El Morro to raise awareness about preventing human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers. The 5k is held annually in memory of Rhaiza Vélez Plumey, who died of cervical cancer as a young mother. Rhaiza advocated for women to get their routine cervical cancer screenings to detect cancer early or prevent it with the HPV vaccine. Her lasting impact was felt and seen in the faces of hundreds of 5k participants.
After the event, Migrant Clinicians Network hosted us for lunch at its office, along with Rep. Hernández’s Deputy District Director Guillermo Guasp-Pérez, representatives of VOCES, and a representative of the University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center (UPRCCC). Although MCN and VOCES were aware of each other’s work, they had not met, and we were thrilled to connect these esteemed groups.
In collaboration with the URPCCC and Puerto Rico Academy of Medical Directors, MCN launched a two-year initiative to enhance patient navigation for breast and cervical cancer care amidst severe climate disasters, including heat waves, hurricanes and droughts that disrupt health care services. The “VOCES Connect Patient to Care: Breaking Barriers to Care” initiative aims to improve access to cancer care for high-risk people throughout Puerto Rico, focusing specifically on cervical and other HPV-related cancers.
Learn more about the Foundation’s community grants program and the 13 projects currently being supported.
The Congressional Families Program is proud to help support the Prevent Cancer Foundation’s community grants program, thanks to our generous sponsors.