When it comes to breast cancer, early diagnosis translates into a 90 percent survival rate. With a late diagnosis, the fatality rate can reach 90 percent.

The early-versus-late price tags are dramatically different, too.

If discovered early, breast cancer treatment can cost 10,000 to 20,000 yuan. If discovered late, treatment can cost 100,000 to 200,000 yuan.

"That's why we should promote early and regular breast cancer screening, to increase survival rates and reduce individual and social costs," said George Cao, GE Healthcare's general manager of Greater China Marketing and Enterprise Business.

GE Healthcare and its nonprofit partners are providing medical equipment and training resources to create a regional breast cancer screening network in Deyang, a city in Sichuan province hit hard by last year's earthquake.

The project's goal is to increase access to breast cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment in rural areas in surrounding counties also.

The Deyang City Breast Cancer Prevention Network will promote public awareness of breast cancer screening and also collect data for scientific research and ongoing healthcare studies.

Partnership

The three-year, $5 billion program is in partnership with the China Breast Cancer Foundation, Avon Foundation for Women, Give2Asia and other organizations.

Xu Guangwei, a professor and vice chairman of the China Breast Cancer Foundation, said a world-class breast care center will be built at Deyang City People's Hospital during the first phase of the program.

The center will serve as the core of the regional network and provide annual breast cancer screenings at a reduced cost to 10,000 women in Deyang.

The center also will provide two free treatments for Sichuan earthquake survivors, free outpatient consultations for 5,000 area women and 500 in-patient treatments.

Cao of GE Healthcare said the company has long experienced working with breast cancer screening initiatives in partnership with governments and non-government organizations in many countries.

"This philanthropic move supports our 'Healthymagination' initiative, the goal of which is to make quality healthcare accessible and affordable everywhere in the world, particularly in underserved markets in the developing world," Cao said.

GE Healthcare hopes to use the Deyang initiative as a springboard to create a three-tiered breast cancer consultation network at the county, regional and national levels to address a shortage of grassroots breast care specialists in China.

The US-based company released its Healthymagination global corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategic report earlier this year.

The company will spend $6 billion within the next six years to support healthcare initiatives around the world, according to the report.

GE Healthcare will invest $3 billion in research and development, $2 billion for financing information technology and healthcare access in rural areas, and $1 billion for healthcare partnerships and other services.

"The Deyang regional network is well matched with the three pillars of our Healthymagination strategy in China," Cao said.

The project's organizers within the next three years want to duplicate the Deyang early diagnosis pilot project in 200 counties to serve 1.2 million rural women.

The Deyang project also marks the start of the second phase of a national breast cancer screening campaign initiated by the China Breast Cancer Foundation.

The first phase was carried out last year in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Fujian province.

GE Healthcare also participated in the first phase, providing equipment and professional training in 10 cities.

The foundation's third phase will involve promoting efforts to have breast cancer screening covered by basic medical insurance by 2012.

"GE has been and will be actively participating in this campaign. We regard it as part of our social responsibility," Cao said.

GE Healthcare has spent about 2 million yuan annually in recent years on breast cancer research and education in China.

Smart business

GE Healthcare's philanthropic activities make smart business sense, too, Cao said.

"People have needs, and we are devoting our efforts to serve those people. If we can meet those needs, we can promote sustainable development in the market," Cao said.

GE Healthcare, which grew at double-digit rates each year during the past decade in China, makes more than half of all high-quality breast cancer screening equipment in the country.

While an earlier focus was on China's major cities, the Deyang initiative will introduce GE Healthcare to more second-tier and third-tier cities and rural regions, he said.

Other international companies have dedicated funding and expertise to healthcare initiatives in China.

Switzerland-based Roche Diagnosis is helping rural clinics install small-scale diagnostic equipment to treat patients.

US-based Bristol-Myers Squibb is leading Hepatitis B prevention and public education programs in western and central China.

Abbott Laboratories, a US-based healthcare and nutritional products supplier, is involved in a project in China to research and promote better nutrition through clinic programs.

(China Daily 08/10/2009 page10)