APPIS INNOVATOR PROGRAM 2024 WINNERS
Our 2024 Program at a glance
49
Entries
21
Countries and territories
7
Finalists
3
Winners
With 49 entries from 21 countries, the APPIS Innovator Program 2024 attracted many worthy programs addressing barriers to access through health literacy and health policy shaping.
Through careful deliberation, our esteemed judging panel selected three programs from Australia, South Africa, and the Philippines as our winners for 2024.
We want to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all patient organizations who have taken part in the program for their continuous efforts in bringing positive change to the lives of patients in their countries. Find out more about our winners and how they are creating impact on the ground for their communities below.
2024 winners:
So Brave - Australia’s Young Women’s Breast Cancer Charity
So Brave is an Australian initiative that brings together young breast cancer survivors to share their personal experience of the disease, to raise awareness of breast cancer in young women aged 15-40. By sharing their lived experience and survivor stories at the ‘SMART women are #breastaware’ workshops and ‘Youth Health Leadership Program’ the group aims to educate more young women about breast health, including the need for early detection of breast cancer and prevention measures.
These programs, which have been running in collaboration with high schools and universities across Australia since 2018, have already significantly shifted participants’ perspectives on breast cancer and inspired them to share the message further. But with breast cancer still the leading cause of death amongst young women globally, there is an urgency to continue the momentum. Through their partnership with the APPIS Innovator Program, So Brave is poised to expand their reach further and fill a critical gap in health literacy for breast health education and advocacy amongst young Australian women.
For information, visit: https://sobrave.org.au
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So Brave is honoured to win the APPIS Innovator Program award. As Australia’s only young women’s breast cancer charity, we look forward to scaling our education and awareness program and making a lasting impact on the young women of Australia.
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Rachelle Panitz
Managing Director and Founder of So Brave Australia
Breast Health NPC known as Breast Health Foundation
The Breast Health Foundation, based in South Africa, is committed to combating breast cancer through education, awareness, and support services. In the past year, their efforts have yielded significant results: Educating 52,300 individuals on breast health and cancer, connecting over 4,200 patients with breast health concerns to relevant clinics, and providing crucial support to over 450 diagnosed breast cancer patients.
However, the current South African primary healthcare sector faces a challenge with health literacy with current education programs focused on general breast health information but failing to address diverse cultural beliefs and health literacy levels. To address these gaps, the Breast Health Foundation proposes a culturally relevant Breast Health Awareness Assessment tool that will help support some of South Africa’s most vulnerable communities. This AI-based initiative aims to improve health literacy and health outcomes by providing personalized assessments of breast cancer risk factors and symptoms, and empowering individuals to seek screening and help where appropriate. The Breast Health Foundation aims to expand their reach, develop targeted interventions, and strengthen partnerships to enhance the effectiveness of their initiatives through their partnership with the APPIS Innovator Program.
For information, visit: https://www.mybreast.org.za
The BHF is thrilled to be selected as an APPIS Innovator winner.
This opportunity will significantly expand our outreach to vulnerable women in rural and peri-urban areas, offering crucial education, screening support, and culturally sensitive breast health awareness initiatives.
Louise Turner
COO/Director of Breast Health Foundation
Cancer Warriors Foundation Philippines
The Cancer Warriors Foundation (CWF) Philippines is dedicated to helping to save lives, build better futures and keep hope alive for children and adolescents living with cancer, young cancer survivors and their families. CWF recognises that despite national efforts to promote and support cancer prevention and control in the Philippines, there remain huge gaps in cancer care delivery, with striking disparities between rural, peri-urban, and urban populations.
Their unique and distinctive initiative brings together philanthropic institutions, legislative champions, local government units, national government entities, and private healthcare facilities, to improve access for patients in the Calabarzon region. Through their partnership with the APPIS Innovator Program and this collaborative approach, they aim to unlock financing mechanisms, finding alternative resource pathways to reduce the out-of-pocket cost of treatment and care, augment social health insurance benefits, and provide a fully funded patient care pathway from biopsy to treatment. The initiative will also model how mobile vans with AI technology can be integrated effectively into early screening, facilitating timely diagnosis/treatment (lung and cervical cancer) and reaching geographically inaccessible disadvantaged areas.
For information, visit: https://c-warriors.org
We are honored and inspired by this recognition. Partnering with
APPIS will enable us to scale up our whole of government and whole
of society initiatives to transform cancer care, localize the nation’s
integrated cancer control act for better care and more cures.
Carmen Auste
Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Warriors Foundation Philippines
