Causes: Cancer, Health, Women, Womens Studies

Mission:
The mission of the National Center for Health Research (formerly called the National Research Center for Women & Families) is to improve the health and safety of adults and children, through the strategic use of objective, research-based health information to encourage new, more effective programs and policies. Our largest program, the Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund, helps children and adults reduce their risk of getting all types of cancer, and assists them in choosing the safest and most effective treatments.

Our work is unique: we conduct and scrutinize research that can be used to prevent cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other diseases and to help everyone make the best possible treatment decisions. Too many medical and health decisions are influenced by sales pitches you may not even be aware of -- companies are convincing doctors to prescribe their products, and health providers are selling their services. Our Center is different: we don’t accept funding from companies that make medical products, so you can trust our advice to be unbiased. We examine the facts and help empower women and men to get the best possible medical care. We are also nonpartisan and fight for better programs and policies to help Americans stay safe and healthy.

Whether fighting against skyrocketing healthcare costs, misleading ads for medical products, or explaining the advantages and disadvantages of the latest experimental treatment, we fight for better programs and policies, give away health and safety information for free, and help reshape the public debate on important issues that affect all of our lives.

Programs:
We help children and adults reduce their risks of developing cancer or other illnesses, and assist them in choosing the safest and most effective treatments. We carefully analyze research by scientists around the world, and draw conclusions about the best strategies for preventing and treating illnesses and diseases. We work on an individual, state, and national level to improve health.

Here are just a few of the strategies we use to get information out to thousands of people across the United States and around the world:

1. We offer a free online hotline about cancer treatment and prevention (info@stopcancerfund. org), and another for all other medical and safety questions (info@center4research. org). These hotlines are used by thousands of people in all walks of life to answer your specific questions about what treatments you are considering or ways to prevent yourself or loved ones from getting ill.
2. We get toxic chemicals banned from homes and communities and off the shelves of your local stores. You shouldn’t have to be a scientist to figure out which products are safe for your family every time you go shopping.
3. We develop free booklets and have thousands of articles on our websites for patients and their family members so they have the information they need to get the best possible treatment. Rather than just saying, “Ask your doctor, ” we give them the information they need to talk to their doctor about their options.
4. We provide free continuing medical education courses for doctors, nurses, and other health professionals. Most continuing medical education courses are developed by pharmaceutical companies, and that can bias the content. Ours are developed without funding from any companies with a financial interest in the content.
5. We fight for laws that will help improve the health and safety of all Americans, and testify before Congress, state governments, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to make sure that all medical products sold in the United States are safe and effective, and that products in our homes and communities will not harm us or our loved ones.
6. We also have projects that enable us to focus on patient advocates that are trying to prevent others from the harm they have suffered due to specific medical products. Those products include, for example, antibiotics with terrible side effects, spinal implants that can cause rather than cure paralysis, breast implants that can cause lymphoma or other serious problems, or types of birth control that can harm young healthy women. At the same time, we also help patients advocate for better research and treatment options for serious diseases that have not received sufficient attention, such as autoimmune diseases, several types of cancer, and rare diseases.
7. Once a year we celebrate the people who have inspired us and made our lives better! The Foremothers and Health Policy Heroes Program is an awards luncheon that honors famous women and unsung heroes over the age of 70 for their lifetime achievements on behalf of women and families. Our Health Policy Heroes are men or women who have made a major contribution to public health. Past honorees include LeAnne Walters and Marc Edwards for exposing toxic lead levels in the water in Flint, Michigan; investigative journalists that exposed doctors who harmed Medicare patients; and two doctors who exposed the deadly dangers of commonly used medical devices called power morcellators.

Tell us what you think! If you’ve had a personal experience with one of these or our many other programs, please take a few minutes and write us a review!