Breast Cancer is the most common cancer affecting women worldwide. As the most populous ethnic group in the world, the rate of Chinese women suffering from breast cancer is increasing at a remarkable pace. Yet depending on where one lives, there is a large disparity in breast health information, quality of support and available treatment to Chinese women diagnosed with breast cancer.
Witnessing the lack of support and treatment in some areas, a group of Chinese breast cancer survivors from different parts of the world gathered together with the determination to diminish this disparity and strive to improve breast cancer care among Chinese women. They strongly felt the necessity to build a common platform to bring the latest breast health information, knowledge on treatment options as well as the best care and support to all Chinese breast cancer patients.
On 27th November 2006, their wish became reality with the first “Global Chinese Breast Cancer Organizations Alliance Conference” in Taichung. The Conference promoted by Ms Jia Ziping, founder of Taichung Kaihuai Association, was a great success. Chinese Breast cancer groups from Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Hong Kong, Macau, Taipei, Taichung, New York, California, Houston, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and many other regions participated at the Conference and unanimously agreed to set up the Global Chinese Breast Cancer Organizations Alliance (GCBC) .
“Happy Club”, a Chinese unit of the America Cancer Society in California, was invited to design the first website and draft the Alliance’s first articles. Ms. Joyce Hsu, ex-chairman of the Californian Chinese Unit generously donated initial set up fees for the website and GCBC was formally launched in March 2007.
In 2016, the present chairman, Ms. Mary Wong, lead GCBC to become a fully registered non-profit charitable organization with head quarter based in Hong Kong. The organization actively participates in local patients support as well as fulfilling its vision worldwide.