The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
UN Health agency launches the Global Breast Cancer Initiative to tackle the most common cancer with some of the greatest inequities
A UN-led global initiative to tackle breast cancer could save 2.5 million lives in the next 20 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
Each year, more than 2.3 million women are diagnosed with breast cancer, making it the most common cancer in the world, according to WHO.
Although a limited number of high-income countries have been able to reduce breast cancer mortality by 40 per cent since 1990, for women in poorer countries, one of the main challenges is to receive timely diagnosis.
“Breast cancer survival is 50 per cent or less in many low and middle-income countries,” WHO’s Dr. Bente Mikkelsen told journalists in Geneva. The rate is “greater than 90 per cent for those able to receive the best care in high-income countries”, she emphasized.
To tackle these inequalities, and to coincide with World Cancer Day on 4 February, the UN agency’s Global Breast Cancer Initiative seeks to reduce breast cancer mortality by 2.5 per cent a year.
To address country-specific needs and provide guidance to governments, the initiative’s framework has three pillars: promotion of health controls to encourage early detection; timely diagnosis and treatment with effective therapies.
By 2040, more than three million cases and one million deaths are expected each year worldwide. Approximately 75 per cent of these deaths will happen in low and middle-income countries.
"We really cannot avoid breast cancer if we are going to address cancer in countries,” said Dr. Ben Anderson, Medical Officer for WHO’s Global Breast Cancer Initiative. “It’s the most common cancer, among men and women together, it is the most likely reason that a woman will die of cancer globally, it is the most common cancer among women in 86 per cent of countries, and it is the number one or two cause of cancer-related death in 95 per cent of countries, so having a framework to build upon over the coming years is an essential beginning point.”
Speakers:
- Dr. Bente Mikkelsen, Director of the Non-Communicable Diseases Department (NCD), WHO
- Dr. Ben Anderson Medical Officer, Global Breast Cancer Initiative, Non-Communicable Diseases Department, WHO
STORY: Launch of the Global Breast Cancer Initiative - WHO
TRT: 01’17”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
RELEASE DATE: 03 February 2023
HYBRID PRESS BRIEFING
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot: UN flag alley UN Geneva.
- Cutaway: Wide shot, Press room, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Bente Mikkelsen, Director of the Department of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD), WHO: “Each year, more than 2.3 million women are diagnosed with breast cancer, making it the most common cancer in the world.”
- Cutaway: wide shot of journalists
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Bente Mikkelsen, Director of the Department of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD), WHO: “Breast cancer survival is 50 per cent or less in many low and middle-income countries and greater than 90 per cent for those able to receive the best care in high-income countries.”
- Cutaway: wide shot of press conference room
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Ben Anderson, Medical Officer, Global Breast Cancer Initiative, Department of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD), WHO: "We really cannot avoid breast cancer if we are going to address cancer in countries. It’s the most common cancer, among men and women together, it is the most likely reason that a woman will die of cancer globally, it is the most common cancer among women in 86 per cent of countries, and it is the number one or two cause of cancer related deaths in 95 per cent of countries, so having a framework to build upon over the coming years is an essential beginning point."
- Various cutaways shot in the press conference room
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , IOM
Four years of war in Ukraine: Childhood has ‘moved underground’, displacement continues – UN humanitarians
Civilian suffering shows no sign of letting up in Ukraine as the four-year-mark of Russia’s full-scale invasion nears amid attacks on energy infrastructure, blackouts and freezing temperatures, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday voiced concerns about the severe impacts on human rights of the socio-economic crisis in Cuba.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Madagascar: ‘Overwhelming’ destruction, surging needs after back-to-back cyclones – WFP
Some 10 days after tropical cyclone Fytia brought heavy rains and flooding to Madagascar, cyclone Gezani has left the island’s main port in ruins, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN rights chief urges de-escalation in Tigray amid rising tensions and violence.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , OHCHR
In Sudan, sick and starving children ‘wasting away’ – UN humanitarians
Relentless violence, famine and disease are picking off Sudan’s children while attacks on healthcare and a lack of aid access hamper efforts to help them, UN humanitarian agencies warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Monday gave an update to the Human Rights Council on the situation in El Fasher, Sudan.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“A series of new Israeli operations and settlement plans in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, risk seriously undermining the viability of a Palestinian state and the realisation of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination,” the UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva today.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNIS
UN voices concern over chemical spraying incident on Lebanon’s Blue Line
The UN reiterated concerns on Friday at reports that Israeli forces sprayed herbicide over areas north of the Blue Line separating Lebanon from Israel. The development poses a “serious humanitarian risk” to civilians living there, said the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), briefing journalists in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Five patients evacuated as Rafah reopens while ‘too many stayed behind’ – WHO
As time is running out for thousands of critically ill patients in Gaza, hope is alive for medical evacuations to increase with the reopening of the Rafah crossing in the southern part of the Strip, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG , OHCHR
This Sunday marks five years of crisis in Myanmar. Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights, and James Rodehaver, chief of the Myanmar team, today spoke on the conduct of recent military-imposed elections, deploring the failure to respect the fundamental human rights of the country’s citizens. The process served only to exacerbate violence and societal polarization.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Brutal Gaza war erased years of progress on education, in an “assault on the future itself” – UNICEF
Restoring Gaza’s shattered education system is “lifesaving” and getting children back into schools must be an immediate priority, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , HRC
Volker Türk, the UN Human Rights High Commissioner, made the following remarks during a briefing to a Special Session on Iran at the Human Rights Council.