The Global Breast Cancer Initiative: An informal dialogue on access to essential breast cancer medicines and technologies

Background

Breast cancer is the leading type of cancer in 157/179 countries with 70% of mortality occurring in low- and middle-income countries. It represents 25% of all cancers in women. Despite this alarming statistic, there has been limited progress in reducing the burden of disease with only an estimated 20 high-income countries being on track to achieve the goal of 2.5% mortality reduction per year by 2040. Health system barriers contribute to late-stage diagnosis and high mortality especially in resource constrained regions. Universal health coverage hinges on the right of everyone to access safe, quality-assured, effective and affordable health care services without financial hardship but challenges in accessing breast cancer health products and technologies have become one of the most pressing concerns. The World Health Organization’s Global Breast Cancer Initiative (GBCI), established in 2021, highlights the need for early and timely diagnosis and treatment completion without abandonment to improve breast cancer survival. 

In this regard, WHO intends to convene an informal dialogue to discuss priorities, policies and actions that can be taken to improve access to breast cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment at population level within countries. This convening will draw attention to persistent shortages hindering effective service delivery and impacting on patient outcomes, provide an avenue for advocacy, understanding and knowledge sharing and stimulate a discussion on how working collaboratively, inequities in access to diagnostics, medicines and technologies can be addressed to ensure early detection, prompt diagnosis and treatment completion in line with the right to health, health equity and achievement of universal health coverage. 

Objectives

1. To identify strategies for effective public-private collaboration in addressing barriers in access to breast cancer health products and technologies (HPTs).
2. To provide a knowledge-sharing platform to inform the discourse, advocacy and enhance understanding for decision-making in ensuring access to breast cancer HPTs. 
3. To share experiences, best practices and innovations for breast HPTs in improving uptake of breast cancer early and timely diagnosis including opportunities for integrated care delivery models at primary health care.
4. To highlight market-shaping opportunities in achieving the GBCI agenda across the three KPIs and the required support for improving access to HPTs for breast cancer at the country level.