Since 2008, breast cancer prevalence has increased by more than 20 percent around the world, and mortality has increased by 14 percent, according to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that supports global cancer research. There were nearly 1.7 million new cases diagnosed in 2012.
Breast cancer survival rates vary greatly by region and wealth, ranging from at least 80 percent in North America, Sweden and Japan to less than 40 percent in low-income and developing nations, where more cases are diagnosed in later stages, according to the World Health Organization.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is marked in countries across the world each October. These 10 countries had the highest diagnosis rates of breast cancer per 100,000 women in 2012, the most recent year for which data are available, according to the U.K.-based World Cancer Research Fund International and The Cancer Atlas.
10. Ireland
Diagnosis Rate: 92.3
Breast cancer kills about 19 of every 100,000 women in Ireland. There are 2,800 new cases diagnosed annually in the country of 4.6 million people, according to Breast Cancer Ireland.
9. United States
Diagnosis Rate: 92.9
In the U.S., about nine in 10 women diagnosed with breast cancer are alive five years later, the highest five-year survival rate of any nation on this list. Between 1989 and 2015, deaths from breast cancer dropped nearly 40 percent in the U.S. The National Institutes of Health will spend about $711 million on breast cancer research in 2017.
8. Barbados
Diagnosis Rate: 94.7
About 22 of every 100,000 women in the Barbados die from breast cancer.
7. United Kingdom
Diagnosis Rate: 95
In the U.K., approximately four in five women diagnosed with breast cancer survive at least another five years. The disease kills about 17 per every 100,000 women in the country.
6. Iceland
Diagnosis Rate: 96.3
Breast cancer kills a smaller share of women in Iceland — 14.4 per every 100,000 — than in any other country on this list.
5. Bahamas
Diagnosis Rate: 98.9
Breast cancer kills about 26 of every 100,000 women in the Bahamas, the second-highest mortality rate in the world after Fiji.
4. Netherlands
Diagnosis Rate: 99
In the Netherlands, 85 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer survive at least another five years.
3. France
Diagnosis Rate: 104.5
Breast cancer kills about 16 of every 100,000 women in France.
2. Denmark
Diagnosis Rate: 105
A recent study found that screenings did not reduce the incidence of advanced breast cancer in Denmark. About 82 percent of women survive at least five years after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
1. Belgium
Diagnosis Rate: 111.9
About 85 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Belgium survive at least five years.
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Breast Cancer Diagnosis Rates Are Highest in These 10 Countries originally appeared on usnews.com
