As is the usual case with the POI blog and I, it has been a while. At the time I last talked to all of you there were two big projects on the horizon. I hoped one would bring a big announcement but unfortunately that has not happened. Well before I get too far ahead let me recap.
After receiving the Friendship award from China in 2010 I began to look hard towards the future. I thought “If China believes that I and the work of POI are so special maybe now is the time to seek support for a truly transformational project for China. To that end the Preventive Oncology Institute of China was proposed with many components that we believed would not only rapidly improve the science of healthcare in China but would transform how foreign experts are used and move that process into the 21st century. With the enthusiastic support of the State Administration of Foreign Experts, the proposal has been viewed and favorably reviewed by many government officials. Will it ever happen? I do not know, but after more than 1 year of hard work I am less confident than I once was. We wait………………..
On a higher note our work to develop a new community based model for preventive healthcare has moved steadily forward. If you recall, our goal was to develop a model that could be applied to preventive healthcare that would be totally community based and when possible could be accomplished completely outside the healthcare system. Then when “positives” or individuals needing medical evaluation/care were identified, the healthcare system could become involved, resulting in a more efficient focused use of the healthcare dollars. We saw the development of a this model, coordinated with the use of centralized laboratories, as the way the latest technologies could reach everyone in the world, especially the medically underserved who often need the most help.
This work began in Peru with PERCAPS, the Peru Cervical Cancer Prevention Study. After two projects in Peru, we moved to rural Guangdong Province China for CHICAPS (the Chinese Cervical Cancer Prevention Study). The work has progressed steadily to the point where we are now confident we have a model than works. We are currently testing the model on a few communities (approximately 5000 women ≥ age 30). We now have a self-collection kit: “Just for Me”. It contains a solid media transport card, the POI-FTA card, developed thru a collaboration with GE Healthcare. We have high thru-put, highly sensitive, very low cost per case centralized processing using the PCR based MALDI-TOF and soon a new sequencing assay from the Shenzhen Genomics Institute (BGI). We have developed a manual for the communities based on our 1 hour course that provides the needed instructions accompanied by a demonstration video of the course. We hope to complete the primary screening and treatment as well as some of the 6 month follow-up up by the end of October 2012. The study will also have a 2 year follow-up milestone.
On one hand I am quite joyful about the hard work of our team and the success it has brought on this project. As we move forward I am currently a bit disappointed that my prior successes at funding new technologies have not been repeated to the same degree when I have tried to fund a new healthcare delivery system. You would think that reducing healthcare costs would be a great draw for funding. I actually think what will happen is that some new technologies will drive the funding, and these new technologies will make our model even more relevant.
Happy fall to all my dear friends around the world,
Jerry Belinson on behalf of the entire POI team