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In 2020, there were 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer and 685 000 deaths globally. As of the end of 2020, there were 7.8 million women alive who were diagnosed with breast cancer in the past 5 years, making it the world’s most prevalent cancer. There are more lost disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) by women to breast cancer globally than any other type of cancer.  Breast cancer occurs in every country of the world in women at any age after puberty but with increasing rates in later life.  

Breast cancer mortality changed little from the 1930s through to the 1970s.  Improvements in survival began in the 1980s in countries with early detection programmes combined with different modes of treatment to eradicate invasive disease.

The objective of the WHO Global Breast Cancer Initiative (GBCI) is to reduce global breast cancer mortality by 2.5% per year, thereby averting 2.5 million breast cancer deaths globally between 2020 and 2040. Reducing global breast cancer mortality by 2.5% per year would avert 25% of breast cancer deaths by 2030 and 40% by 2040 among women under 70 years of age. The three pillars toward achieving these objectives are: health promotion for early detection; timely diagnosis; and comprehensive breast cancer management.