WHO EMRO | Pink October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October 2024, Cairo, Egypt ̶ Breast most cancers is the main explanation for cancer-related mortality amongst ladies globally, accounting for 1 in 6 feminine deaths. Annually, it accounts for round 25% of all cancers recognized in ladies.

Within the Japanese Mediterranean Area, over 130 000 new circumstances had been reported in 2022, underscoring the pressing want for consciousness and motion.

Each October, the worldwide Pink October marketing campaign goals to extend consciousness round breast most cancers prevention. Key dangers embody advancing age, weight problems, restricted bodily exercise, alcohol consumption and particular post-menopausal hormonal remedies. Whereas solely 5–10% of breast cancers are hereditary, household historical past of breast most cancers ought to immediate ladies to take proactive steps to cut back their probability of growing the illness.

Danger elements for growing breast most cancers

Age

Weight problems

Household historical past of breast most cancers

Historical past of radiation publicity

Tobacco use

Restricted bodily exercise

It’s vital for girls of all ages to concentrate on breast modifications by common breast self-examinations. Early prognosis and therapy considerably enhance survival charges, and girls over 40 ought to take into account common mammograms at services that provide screening providers. Medical professionals ought to take each alternative to conduct scientific breast examinations to ladies accessing healthcare particularly in resource-limited settings.

Useful resource-limited settings, the place entry to early detection and complete therapy is commonly missing, account for 70% of breast most cancers deaths. The disparity in survival charges is alarming: there’s a 60% distinction in survival charges between ladies in high-income nations and people in low- and middle-income nations. Regardless of these challenges, the potential to cut back breast most cancers mortality exists. The World Well being Group (WHO) World Breast Most cancers Initiative urges all nations to focus on a 2.5% annual discount in breast most cancers mortality and save 2.5 million lives by 2040.

To realize this purpose, breast most cancers providers have to be built-in into common well being protection packages and be accessible at public well being services. The World Breast Most cancers Initiative supplies a framework to information efforts to make sure that is the case.