Addressing Cancer Community Needs During the COVID-19 Pandemic
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The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) has launched an online resource center targeted especially to cancer patients and caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform has been created to serve as a trusted, helpful and easy-to-navigate website kit for members of the cancer community seeking accurate information and reliable guidance to the coronavirus and the disease it causes.
Accessible at NFCR.org/Coronavirus, the resource center has three primary components. The first is a series of articles written by Michael Wang, M.D., Ph.D., that convey actionable advice, best practices and non-technical summaries of scientific findings associated with the coronavirus and pertinent to cancer patients. Posts will continue throughout the height of the pandemic.
The second component comprises general information about the coronavirus, especially tailored for those with cancer and drawn from reputable sources. It includes answers to frequently asked questions, insight into how research discoveries are being applied and guidelines for cancer patients seeking to determine which oncology treatment procedures can be postponed—and which can’t—during this period of unique but surmountable stress upon the U.S. healthcare system.
The third component is a free assessment tool allowing individual users to determine if they are at particular risk of contracting the coronavirus. The online tool has been developed in partnership with the company Mira as a one-minute self-inquiry to screen for COVID-19 symptoms and risk factors. It is designed to help ease the mind of cancer patients and aid in their decision making whether or not to seek out coronavirus testing.
“There is an urgency for us to help address the needs of cancer patients and their caregivers,” said NFCR President and CEO Sujuan Ba, Ph.D. “That is why the National Foundation for Cancer Research has launched its COVID-19 Resource Center, which includes a free self-assessment tool to determine if someone is at-risk, designed specifically for the cancer community.”
“The pandemic associated with coronavirus disease COVID-19 is particularly dangerous for someone with cancer, whose body’s primary defense mechanism, the human immune system, is weaker than that of a healthy person,” expressed Dr. Wang. “There is a need during this time to ensure that those with cancer have a place to easily turn for concise, credible and actionable information regarding the coronavirus that is backed by science.”
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