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Thoughts from Kosovo - Part 2

When I visited Bondsteel Army Base in Kosovo, I learned quickly that this was no place to wear my Manolo Blahniks! But I quickly found my footing, and was thrilled to meet our men and women in uniform serving in KFOR (forces in Kosovo). We flew from the American embassy to Bondsteel on a Black Hawk helicopter, and I was so impressed by how professional and efficient the troops were. I will say, though, that they ALL have a sense of humor, and we had a lot of laughs, too.

I met one young soldier who is 23 with a lump in her breast, AND a history of breast cancer in her family. She told me the doctor she saw said she was too young for a mammogram. And I told her that's not true. You're not too young for anything. That's the problem with a medical community that draws hard lines around disease and age when we all know that there are exceptions on both sides of the chronological chart. I was one of those people who for two years and eight doctors was told I was too young for uterine cancer, when all the while that's exactly what I had growing inside of me. It also seemed clear to me that our troops need to know that we - back at home - are proud of them for the job that they do overseas.

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Thoughts from Kosovo

Traveling through Central and Eastern Europe as the State Department Public Diplomacy Envoy for Women's Health Issues has been one of the most rewarding and mind-expanding experiences of my life...and trust me when I tell you I've had some pretty mind-expanding experiences before!

It's so interesting to realize that - no matter where you go - whether women are rich or poor, young or old, educated or not, what we all collectively DON'T know about our bodies is killing us. From Beverly Hills to Bucharest, women need to start taking control of their bodies, learning the early warning symptoms of the cancers that could affect them, and become better partners with their physicians.

As we drove in an armored vehicle through the countryside in Kosovo, over the bridge that is a symbol of the divisions between the Serbs and the Albanians, I saw in the faces of the women no differences. Everyone seems hungry to know what they can do to ensure stage one diagnosis of cancer. Women's health advocacy is a sisterhood that knows no borders.

Poor health is the great equalizer. Perhaps cancer awareness could became the portal for unity and peace. Cancer does not discriminate based on religion or ethnicity or party affiliation, and we must not forget that.

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Public Diplomacy Envoy, Fran Drescher Advocates Cancer Awareness in HU                    

U.S. Public Diplomacy Envoy Fran Drescher successfully reached out to thousands of Hungarians on the important theme of cancer awareness and prevention during her recent visit to Budapest. Ms. Drescher spoke live on RTL Klub’s “Reggeli,” and will be featured in a prominent article in Nepszabadsag.

Along with Ambassador Foley and the Prime Minister’s wife, Klara Dobrev, Ms. Drescher lead a crowd of thousands across the pink-lit Chain Bridge in a widely-covered event highlighting breast cancer awareness. She also spoke frankly with young medical students at Semmelweiss University of the critical need for doctors to adopt a patient-centered approach in providing high-quality health care and in diagnosing and treating cancer.

Fran visits with Surgeon General Ferenc Falus. (Photo by Carolyn Glassman, U.S. Embassy)

She also met with leading businesswomen and media figures at a luncheon hosted by the Ambassador to encourage them pursue the cause of women’s health. In a meeting with Hungary’s Surgeon General, Drescher urged him to focus greater attention on the government’s role in cancer prevention among the Hungarian public. 

Ms. Drescher’s highly-publicized and well-received visit directly supports U.S. public diplomacy efforts in Hungary to raise awareness of cancer prevention, women’s health issues and patient empowerment.