Celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month with Mutare Boreholes

Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among women. 

In 2020, 576 337 women in the Region were diagnosed with breast cancer and 157 111 lost their lives to the disease. 

As of the end of 2020, there were nearly 2.3 million women alive who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the previous 5 years.

Celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month with Mutare Boreholes

Every year, the month of October is dedicated to breast cancer awareness. What should you be aware of?

• Early detection affects survival rates. It is therefore important for all women to be breast aware – that is, to “know their normal” – and for women in target populations to be screened through high-quality, organized screening programmes.
• Treatment for breast cancer can be highly effective, especially when the disease is identified early.

Breast cancer disproportionately affects women in lower-income countries. Breast cancer 5-year survival rates in high-income western European countries exceed 90%, but are still around 75% in several central and eastern European countries. 

Survival rates drop to 56% in middle-income Ukraine and 43% in Uzbekistan. Bridging these inequities in breast cancer outcomes requires systematic improvements in access to resource-appropriate and quality services.