Isabella Grueso: Beating Cancer

Our past can stick with us for the rest of our lives. This is particularly true for a young doctor who had to deal with poverty and inequality since the early stages of her career. Isabella Grueso, Pfizer Global Breast Cancer & Precision Medicine Policy Director, spent her first years practicing in a challenging environment: 

“I still remember when I was practicing as a doctor in the largest hospital in my country, Colombia. I saw a lot of inequalities.” 

Isabella realised that perhaps shaping policies and working with governments and patient groups could be one way of addressing an inefficient system that was leaving behind a part of the population.  

She has now spent a decade in breast cancer policy, working to avoid delays in diagnosis and treatment. With metastatic breast cancer, every minute counts and the right policies can make the difference for women. 

The average time to availability1 for oncology patients in Europe is 545 days. Isabella knows places in Latin-America where patients need to wait more than 3 years to start treatment. That is unacceptable, and she is committed  to continue working towards reducing these gaps. 

“My dream? That every woman on the planet, once she gets the diagnosis of breast cancer, immediately has access to treatment.” 

With Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, the EU aims to tackle the entire disease pathway, from prevention to the quality of life of cancer survivors - bringing us one step closer to beating cancer. 

Pfizer’s European colleagues, together with Isabella and the Global Breast Cancer Team, will keep working to ensure that fast and equal access to medicines stays high on the EU’s agenda.