Carman’s Fun Run 2024
On Sunday 18 February, Melbourne turned on the perfect weather for over 6,000 Carman’s Fun Run participants who gathered at Elsternwick Park. Either running or walking the route, they collectively raised over $287,000 for BCNA to ensure all Australians affected by breast cancer receive the very best care, treatment and support. BCNA CEO Kirsten Pilatti and Carman’s Founder Carolyn Creswell welcomed the crowds, along with our much-loved ambassador Raelene Boyle, AM, MBE. The event village was awash with pink, children’s activities, food trucks, entertainment, face painting, and the very popular Melbourne Vixens inflatable netball activity. BCNA would like to thank our wonderful event partners Sole Motive and Carman’s, and all of our BCNA corporate partners and supporters who participated, fundraised and supported the event, including Bakers Delight, Red Energy,
Middy’s Electrical, Opal, Melbourne Vixens, and the Melbourne AFL and AFLW players. We would also like to recognise the Gaudry Foundation for their generous dollar matching donation of $10,000! Without all the amazing participants, volunteers, donors, event staff and our partners the day would never have been such a huge success! Thank you to everyone. Mark your diary for February in 2025 when we do it all again.
SUPPORTING OUR ADVOCACY AT TAX TIME
S arah was diagnosed with de novo metastatic breast cancer (ER+HER2-) in 2017 at 41. “I had 19 lymph nodes removed, and my breast cancer had spread to my spine,” she says. “I undertook six months of chemotherapy followed by a mastectomy, 25 sessions of radiotherapy and a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy.” In 2021, Sarah was told her cancer had also spread to her liver. After less success trialling other drugs, Sarah was put on a new drug. She has been self-funding this at $12,300 every three weeks since. “There is no denying this drug is working for me,” she says. “I am thriving—I run 40km a week, I go to the gym three times a week. I work four days a week, laugh lots with family and friends and enjoy life.” In Australia, new cancer drugs are first approved by the Therapeutic
Goods Administration (TGA) prior to being considered for government subsidy through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). If someone wants to access these drugs as part of their treatment prior to PBS subsidy, they need to pay tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars. This creates a sizeable gap in equity of access to potentially lifesaving or life-extending therapies. “If this drug was added to the PBS. for my type of breast cancer, it would reduce the financial stresses in my family’s life and allow us to completely emerge in the dream of more memories in the time I am being given,” Sarah says. “There is the sheer terror of what happens when the money runs out—a decision that is not too far away—imagine having to make the decision to stop a drug that’s working in keeping me alive!” According to Medicines Australia, the average time from TGA registration
to PBS subsidy for cancer therapies is 537 days. BCNA advocates for a more streamlined process, while also providing submissions to support drugs being listed on the PBS, and advocacyte to pharmaceutical companies to implement access programs for patients like Sarah while they wait for PBS subsidy. “BCNA were pretty much the catalyst for getting the drug on the access scheme,” Sarah says. consider donating to our Tax Appeal, which runs from 3 May to 30 June. Your generosity helps BCNA continue to advocate so that all Australians affected by breast cancer have access to the latest treatments and medications. How can you help? BCNA would love you to
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bcna.org.au
Issue 97 | April 2024
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