The World Health Organisation (WHO) has unveiled a Global Breast Cancer Initiative Framework.
This is in an effort to provide a roadmap to attain the targets of saving 2.5 million people from breast cancer by 2040.
The unveiling comes as the world observes World Cancer Day, celebrated every year on February 4, to promote awareness of cancer as a public health issue and to strengthen actions towards improving access to quality care and screening.
According to the WHO, The framework, recommends that countries implement the three pillars of health promotion for early detection, timely diagnosis and comprehensive management of breast cancer to reach the targets.
Tedros Ghebreyesus, director-general WHO said in 95 per cent of countries, breast cancer was the first or second leading cause of female cancer deaths.
He said, “Survival from breast cancer is widely inequitable between and within countries; nearly 80 per cent of deaths from breast and cervical cancer occur in low- and middle-income countries.
“Countries with weaker health systems are least able to manage the increasing burden of breast cancer.
“It places a tremendous strain on people, health systems and economies, so it must be a priority governments everywhere.”
He added that he hope for a cancer- free future as WHO has the tools and the know-how to prevent breast cancer and save lives, supporting more than 70 countries, particularly low- and middle-income countries, to detect breast cancer earlier, diagnose faster, treat it better.
It is gathered that more than 2.3 million breast cancer cases occur annually, making it the most common cancer among adults.
