The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a new Global Breast Cancer Initiative Framework providing a roadmap to attain the targets to save 2.5 million lives from breast cancer by 2040.

The new Framework recommends to countries to implement the three pillars of health promotion for early detection, timely diagnosis and comprehensive management of breast cancer to reach the targets.  

There are more than 2.3 million cases of breast cancer that occur each year, which make it the most common cancer among adults.  

The newly published framework leverages proven strategies to design country-specific, resource-appropriate, health systems for the delivery of breast-cancer care in low- and middle-income settings. It outlines three pillars of action with specific key performance indicators:  

1. Recommending countries to focus on breast cancer early-detection programmes so that at least 60% of the breast cancers are diagnosed and treated as early-stage disease.
2. Diagnosing breast cancer within 60 days of initial presentation can improve breast cancer outcomes. Treatment should start within three months of first presentation.
3. Managing breast cancer so that at least 80% of patients complete their recommended treatment.

Accelerating the implementation of WHO’s Global Breast Cancer Initiative has the potential to avert not only millions of avoidable female cancer deaths but also the associated, intergenerational consequences of these deaths.