Cervical cancer Cervical cancer illustrates the effectiveness of proactive public health measures on the course of a potentially fatal disease. The risks of complications from cervical cancer have been greatly reduced. Caught early through simple, low-cost tests, cervical cancer can be surgically treated. The incidence of breast cancer, one of the diseases women fear most, rises dramatically with age. It cannot be prevented, and there is no certain cure, Survival rates can be significantly increased, however, if breast cancer is found and treated early enough.
Early detection saves lives and health care resources.
Widespread education and screening programmes for women over 50 should therefore be a high priority. Worldwide incidence rates of breast cancer are highest in industrialised countries and still increasing. Although Europe and North America are home to less than one fifth of the world's women, half of the world's breast cancer cases occur in these two regions. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the European Union. Each year some 60,000 women in the European Union die of it and 150,000 new cases are reported.