Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Breast Cancer Awareness Month has been celebrated every October since the nineties. It is called 'Pink October' as people around the world adopt the pink colour and display a pink ribbon to raise awareness about breast health.

Call for Applications for Project ECHO Breast Cancer Control Course, photo (c) Sarah Cervantes Unsplash

What is Breast Cancer Awareness Month?

Woman dressed in pink holding a pink ribbon, symbolising breast cancer awareness month

Breast Cancer Awareness Month has been celebrated in October since the eighties. It is called "Pink October" as people around the world adopt the pink colour and display a pink ribbon to raise awareness about the importance of prevention and routine screening for the early diagnosis of breast cancer, now the second most commonly diagnosed cancer globally.

Discover UICC’s Breast Cancer programme and its activities for breast cancer control.

Breast cancer prevention and symptoms

An estimated 30% of breast cancer cases are attributed to modifiable risk factors, understand what you can do to reduce your breast cancer risk.

Reduce your risk of breast cancer by making better behavioural choices which include:

maintaining a healthy weight
staying physically active
avoiding harmful use of alcohol
breastfeeding
quitting tobacco use and avoiding exposure to tobacco smoke
avoiding the prolonged use of hormones
avoiding excessive exposure to radiation

If you think you have one or more of the above symptoms, seek medical care immediately. Although these could be caused by a non-cancerous mass, an exam is required for proper diagnosis.

Symptoms of breast cancer include:

change in nipple appearance or alteration in the skin surrounding the nipple (areola)
bloody or abnormal nipple discharge
a lump or thickening in the breast
change in breast colour
pitting of the breast skin
breast or nipple pain

Breast Cancer Awareness Month ready-made social media messages

1 in 12 women are predicted to be diagnosed with #breastcancer in their lifetime. How will you help raise awareness this #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth? @uicc

Source: IARC

Every 50 seconds, somewhere in the world a woman dies from #breastcancer. Systematic improvements are needed in breast health promotion, early detection, timely diagnosis and treatment. @uicc

Source: Globocan

In 2022, there were an estimated 669,418 deaths from #breastcancer, with a disproportionate number of these deaths occurring in low-resource settings. Raise your voice this #breastcancer awareness month! @uicc

Source: Globocan

Did you know that breast cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer across the globe? Let's stand together and raise awareness. Our collective efforts can change the trajectory of this disease. #breastcancer @uicc

Source: Globocan

23% of breast cancer cases are preventable. Taking steps such as maintaining a healthy weight, limiting your alcohol intake and quitting smoking, can help reduce the risk. #breastcancer @uicc

Source: CRUK

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide and the leading cause of cancer deaths among women. The goal: reduce breast cancer mortality by 2.5% per year.

How?

Diagnose breast cancer at an early stage

Deliver a diagnosis in 60 days

Enable patients to access multimodal treatment

Over a 20-year period this could save 2.5 million lives. #GBCI @uicc

Source: GBCI

#Breastcancer deaths disproportionately affect individuals in low- and middle-income countries. In high-income countries, the five-year survival rates exceed 90%, while they remain at 66% in India and 40% in South Africa. @uicc #GBCI

Source: GBCI

Since the 1980s, there has been a 40% reduction in #breastcancer mortality in high-income countries. This has yet to be achieved in the majority of low- and middle-income countries. @uicc #GBCI

Source: GBCI

Breast Cancer Awareness Month social media cards

Breast cancer awareness social media card

breast cancer new image - 1 million new maternal orphans

Breast cancer new image - orphans cancer

Breast cancer new image - figure on female death

Download the social media cards

UICC members during Breast Cancer Awareness Month

asian women doing a virtual fitness exercise session for breast cancer awareness month.

Discover several past Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns from UICC members. They aimed to raise awareness around breast cancer through multiple channels and regions:

The Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA), in collaboration with the Food Lover’s Market and Grid Worldwide carried out a national campaign to raise awareness of the importance of breast self-examinations (BSE) to detect breast cancer early, and have designed a campaign for female shoppers to check out their ‘Melons’. Alongside informational materials, CANSA shares the video “how to do a BSE” during these campaigns.
Breast Cancer International (BCI) Ghana did its ‘Walk for the cure 2023’ in the capital city of Ghana - Accra. There were 1000s that walked to raise awareness and celebrate breast cancer survivors in pink. The group also carried out an inspiring initiative to photograph survivors of breast cancer to raise awareness.
Europa Donna launched ‘the Cancer Currency’ campaign to highlight the value of women with MBC by creating “currency” (working with the artist who designed the US $50 and $100 bills) with real women experiencing MBC, they launched an inspiring video to bring this initiative to life.
In Ivory Coast, Hope Life organised the forth edition of the 'Slam Rose', an urban poetry contest to grow awareness about breast cancer in the younger population, as well as many other activities such as free breast cancer screening and physical activity events.
In Egypt, the Baheya Foundation held the 6th Baheya Breast Cancer Conference as well as a Run for Breast Cancer Awareness organized with Adidas Runners. The foundation previously lit the pyramids in pink and launched the “30 days in Pink” campaign.
In Mexico, Fundación CIMA launched a virtual sportive event in which participants could walk, run, swim, bike and more, to support breast cancer patients.
In Lebanon, the Bread Exam is a bread recipe that implicitly teaches women how to self-check for breast cancer.

To learn how to design messaging and campaigns that appeal to the public based on design-thinking principles and hear from past campaigns of UICC members, you can watch the Virtual Dialogue on “Rethinking Pink October – how to increase engagement with the public virtually”.

Please share your own BCAM campaign through the ICCP portal and view other campaigns from UICC members on the ICCP resource library.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month contest on UICC Connect

UICC is hosting a friendly competition for organisations to post BCAM activities on UICC Connect. If you would like to participate, please see the full information here, accessible to those with a UICC Connect account. If you do not have an account sign up here.