• Breast cancer was the most common cancer in women in 157 countries out of 185 in 2022.
• In 2022, there were an estimated 2.3 million women diagnosed and 6,70,000 deaths globally.
• Female gender is the strongest breast cancer risk factor. Approximately 99% breast cancer occur in women and 0.5 – 1% breast cancer occur in men .
• Global estimates reveal striking inequities in the breast cancer burden according to human development index.
• For instance, in countries with a very high HDI, 1 in 12 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime and 1 in 71 women will die of it. In contrast, in countries with a low HDI, while only 1 in 27 women is diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, 1 in 48 women will die from it.
• 5-year survival rates in high-income countries exceed 90%, compared with 66% in India and 40% in South Africa.
• Bridging inequities in breast cancer outcomes requires systematic improvement in access to resource-appropriate and quality services.
• The WHO’s Global Breast Cancer Initiative ( GBCI), established in 2021, brings together stakeholders from around the world and across sectors with the shared goal of reducing breast cancer deaths by 2.5% per year, which over a 20-year period (2050) would save 2.5 million lives.
• GBCI employs 3 key strategies to achieve these objectives:
– Health promotion and early detection
– Timely diagnosis
– Comprehensive breast cancer management
