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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
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In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
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