Susan G. Komen for the Cure Sharing Grassroots Advocacy Knowledge with International Representatives in Intensive Dallas Training Session

Leader in Breast Cancer Movement Preparing Activists to Make Global Inroads on Decreasing Deaths from the Disease

DALLAS -January 20, 2008 - Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists, this week welcomes a landmark group of dedicated breast cancer advocates from around the world for a five-day intensive training of trainers session called Course for the Cure™. This first-of-its-kind training is key to the implementation of Komen for the Cure's Global Initiative for Breast Cancer, announced last fall at the organization's Ignite the Promise Global Advocate Summit held in Budapest, Hungary. The Budapest summit brought together breast cancer advocates from 30 countries, all of whom shared information and ideas on how to stem the growing global impact of breast cancer.

Countries participating in Komen's Global Initiative for Breast Cancer include Brazil, Costa Rica, Jordan, Mexico, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates. The overall objective of the Global Initiative is in keeping with Komen's domestic agenda: find ways to decrease breast cancer incidence and mortality.

Global Initiative advocates have pledged to help coordinate readily available resources and adapt Komen's breast cancer advocacy success model to the practical, political and cultural realities of their respective countries. Advocates will work with government entities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to educate girls and women about breast health and breast cancer through community-based training workshops. The workshops will include grassroots health educators, NGO workers, nurses, students and local community leaders. As a result, a network of dedicated, trained advocates will be put in place, armed with the tools they need to improve breast cancer outcomes.

Steps Toward Stemming Global Crisis
Unless practical and effective steps are taken to address the growing international breast cancer crisis, Komen estimates 25 million more people could be diagnosed with the disease within the next 25 years. Nearly 70 percent of those cases will occur in developing countries, including 30 countries in Africa and Asia. Komen last year pledged to invest no less than $2 billion in research and community-based programs within the next decade to bring about a dramatic decrease in the incidence of breast cancer and deaths resulting from the disease.

"Bringing our global advocates to Dallas provides a wonderful opportunity to share what Komen has learned in its 25-year history. But this week is every bit as much about listening to how our advocates plan to adapt what they learn here and what they're up against, in a practical sense, in facing this tremendous challenge," said Komen President and CEO Hala Moddelmog.

Twenty trainers representing eight of the 10 countries included in Komen's Global Initiative pilot project will take part in this week's Dallas training session. Some global advocates have reported challenges in their countries ranging from widespread misinformation and myths regarding breast cancer to lack of access to care and lack of trained professionals, lack of up-to-date equipment and barriers to basic services such as mammograms or radiation therapy.

Translating Across Cultures and Borders
The Course for the Cure™ integrates key factors of Komen's 25-year success building the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find and deliver the cures for breast cancer.

The Course for the Cure™ is designed to prepare advocates to do the following: objectively assess the breast health and breast cancer needs of their communities; recruit, organize and retain volunteers; build breast cancer awareness and provide educational options for their community members and raise the funds needed to carry out their objectives. Course modules were designed by the Boston Consulting group, in collaboration with the Institute of International Education (IIE) and Komen. IIE is also responsible for providing program management, hiring and managing of field staff and monitoring results.

About the Institute of International Education
Founded in 1919, the Institute of International Education (IIE) is one of the world's most experienced global higher education and professional exchange organizations. IIE has long worked to implement training programs, particularly through its close relationships with universities, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) dedicated to human capacity development. Susan G. Komen for the Cure's Global Initiative for Breast Cancer is managed by IIE's West Coast center in San Francisco.

Note to editors, reporters and producers: Due to the cultural sensitivities involved in the training session, it is not open to media. If you would like more information, please contact Julie Bernstein at jbernstein@komen.org