English
EspañolIAPO launches the Policy Report "Improving Breast Cancer Care in the Middle East and Africa"
Tuesday, 7 May 2024
It is with great excitement that IAPO launches this policy report after over a year of investigation into the burden of breast cancer in the MEA region.
In the Middle East and Africa, breast cancer presents a significant public health challenge, accounting for 34% of new cancer cases and 22% of cancer-related deaths among women in 2020. Within the region, there has been a nearly twofold increase in new breast cancer cases annually over the past two decades. Despite this surge, there exists considerable potential to improve patient care, offering not just prolonged survival but also opportunities for recovery. Unfortunately, a vast majority of patients in these regions face barriers to accessing quality care, placing them at a disadvantage compared to their counterparts in Europe or North America.
To confront this escalating crisis, the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced the Global Breast Cancer Initiative (GBCI) in 2021. The initiative aims to provide strategic guidance and coordination to enhance breast cancer care, particularly in low- and middle-income nations. By targeting a yearly reduction of 2.5% in breast cancer mortality rates, the GBCI holds the potential to save 2.5 million lives by 2040. The policy report "Improving Breast Cancer in the Middle East and Africa" mirrors the WHO GBCI, offering insights into the current state of breast cancer care across nine Middle Eastern and African countries (MEA-9): Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates. It addresses the GBCI's three pillars – detection, diagnosis, and treatment – supplementing these with an outline of care organization and an overview of healthcare systems and breast cancer care governance in each country.
The study also aims to aid local policymakers in decision-making and prioritizing breast cancer care initiatives and to facilitate the exchange of best practices in breast cancer care throughout the MEA region. Policy recommendations and country-specific information can be found at the end of the report.
IAPO commissioned IHE – The Swedish Institute for Health Economics to develop this report, authored by Andrea Manzano, Katarina Gralén, Nils Wilking, Thomas Hofmarcher. We thank the grants received from AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, MSD, Novartis Middle East FZE (“Novartis”), and Pfizer, which have all come together to support the development of this study.
The full report in English can be downloaded here.
Below you can also download the country-specific summary sheets.
