Two of the most common cancers affecting women are breast and cervical cancers. Detecting both these cancers early is key to keeping women alive and healthy. The latest global figures show that around half a million women die from cervical cancer and half a million from breast cancer each year. The vast majority of these deaths occur in low and middle income countries where screening, prevention and treatment are almost non-existent, and where vaccination against human papilloma virus needs to take hold. (https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/ten-top-issues-for-women's-health).
Breast cancer represents 1 in 4 cancers diagnosed among women globally. Colorectal, lung, cervical, and thyroid cancers are also common among women.
Inequity in health care between higher and lower resourced settings:
For the 1st time, female breast cancer has become the most commonly diagnosed cancer(link is external), surpassing lung cancer, in particular due to high prevalence in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Lung cancer remains the leading cause(link is external) of cancer deaths, not only in many LMICs but also in most higher-income regions like North America, Europe and Australia. (https://www.uicc.org/news/globocan-2020-new-global-cancer-data).
The need for more reliable national cancer data:
IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) draws attention to a situation of limited data in certain countries and emphasizes the need for better cancer data registries:
"Caution must be exercised when interpreting these estimates, given the limited quality and coverage of cancer data worldwide at present, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. IARC’s approach is not only to evaluate, compile, and use the data from the Agency’s collaborators in these estimates but also to work alongside national staff to improve local data quality, registry coverage, and analytical capacity. The clear need for investment in population-based cancer registration in low- and middle-income countries led to the launch of the Global Initiative for Cancer Registry Development(link is external) (GICR), coordinated by IARC. The goal of the GICR is to inform cancer control through defined improvements in the coverage, quality, and use of population-based cancer registration data worldwide."
For instance, the International Journal of Cancer reports in an article, "Progress, challenges and ways forward supporting cancer surveillance in Latin America", that less than 3% and 10% of the respective populations of Central America and South America are covered by high‐quality cancer registries.
Scope of the problem:
In 2020, there were 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer and 685 000 deaths globally. As of the end of 2020, there were 7.8 million women alive who were diagnosed with breast cancer in the past 5 years, making it the world’s most prevalent cancer. There are more lost disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) by women to breast cancer globally than any other type of cancer. Breast cancer occurs in every country of the world in women at any age after puberty but with increasing rates in later life.
More on Breast Cancer from the World Health Organization (WHO) webpage:
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