Re-define Breast Cancer Awareness Month as Action Month, press global health experts

 

 

 

 

Calling for a fundamental shift in global strategy against breast cancer citing inequitable survival rates, the global health experts advocated to officially re-define “Breast Cancer Awareness Month” in October as “Breast Cancer Action Month” (BCAM) or “Breast Health Empowerment Month.” Through a recent article entitled ‘Bridging the Global Divide in Breast Health through Innovation and Action’ published in the Indian Journal of Endocrine Surgery and Research, the authors including Breast and Endocrine Surgeon, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College,

 

Dr. Sanjay Yadav and Kefah Mokbel, Chair of Breast Cancer Surgery at The London Breast Institute, argue that four decades of awareness campaigns have failed to bridge a critical gap in survival outcomes between high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Highlighting a troubling global paradox, Dr. Yadav and Mokbel comment that while HICs enjoy declining mortality, LMICs like India still face late-stage presentations and preventable deaths. The authors assert that in low-resource settings, the symbolic pink ribbon has not translated into curative outcomes, noting that approximately 60% of breast cancer cases in India are still diagnosed at stage III or IV, resulting in a mortality-to-incidence ratio nearly double that of HICs.

 

The primary barrier is not merely a lack of knowledge, but a profound inequity in access to standard, guideline-mandated care—including core biopsy, pathological typing, and molecular profiling—which often remains inaccessible or unaffordable. The call for “Action” centers on the immediate adoption of low-cost, high-quality technological and procedural innovations designed to democratize breast care.

 

The editorial champions “frugal innovations” as context-appropriate equivalents to expensive commercial systems, including Low-Cost Vacuum-Assisted Core Needle Biopsy (VACNB) which is a A simple device providing high diagnostic accuracy at a fraction of the commercial cost.

 

Then Dual-Dye Sentinel Lymph-Node Biopsy (SLNB) which use methylene blue and fluorescein sodium to replace costly radiocolloids and gamma probes, making essential axillary staging widely reproducible and finally, Touch-Imprint Cytology (TIC) which is a low-cost alternative for accurate intra-operative nodal assessment without expensive cryostats. The ultimate objective of the proposed “Breast Cancer Action Month” is to ensure that a woman who seeks care in a public facility is guaranteed an evidence-based diagnosis and a financially accessible treatment plan, moving from what the authors describe as “symbolism to systems change.”