Last week, as a council member of the Astra Zeneca Global Breast Cancer Care Council, I joined our group of cancer advisory experts in clinical research, advocacy, and policy, in warmly welcoming the new Policy Report on Improving Breast Cancer Care in the Middle East and Africa by The Swedish Institute for Health Economics, co-authored by our council member Dr. Thomas Hofmarcher, and The Lancet Breast Cancer Commission Report The Lancet Group, co-authored by our council member Dr. Benjamin Anderson.

Breast cancer is one of the biggest killers of women around the world and is growing in women of working age. World leaders do not adequately prioritise breast cancer, which also impacts economies and communities. Both reports highlight that to address this mounting burden, cross-sector cooperation with strategic direction and coordination to enhance breast cancer care, particularly in low-and middle-income countries is needed, especially as the WHO Global Breast Cancer Initiative endeavours to annually decrease the breast cancer mortality rate by 2.5%, potentially saving 2.5 million lives by 2040, through the pillars of detection, diagnosis, and treatment.

As a member of the Global Breast Cancer Care Council, we know that every dollar invested in women’s health has a threefold return for economic growth, and we are concerned that even the world’s largest economies are not putting patients’ care higher on the list. The Council’s urgent ambition is to put the entire continuum of breast cancer care at the forefront of government priorities at the global, national, and local levels through purposeful and targeted policy reforms with the patient at the centre. The policy recommendations will define a clear path forward, aligned with key clinical guidelines and global frameworks and will champion patients and their families, caregivers, and other stakeholders to address disparities in breast cancer care to attain optimal patient outcomes across the globe.