KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has expressed serious concern over the findings of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Status Report on Cancer 2026, which reveals that women with breast cancer in Pakistan face an average delay of 111.5 days between diagnosis and the start of treatment—one of the longest treatment delays reported globally.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, PMA Secretary General Dr. Abdul Ghafoor Shoro said the report exposes major weaknesses in Pakistan's healthcare system and reflects the failure of federal and provincial health authorities to establish an effective public health infrastructure for cancer care.
He said the prolonged delay in treatment is the result of several longstanding challenges, including the absence of functional breast cancer screening services at Basic Health Units (BHUs) and Rural Health Centres (RHCs), poor public awareness, social stigma surrounding women's health, and limited access to diagnostic and treatment facilities.
The PMA noted that most breast cancer cases in Pakistan are diagnosed at advanced stages because women are unable or reluctant to seek timely medical attention. High out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, poverty, shortages of oncology medicines, and inadequate radiotherapy facilities in public hospitals further worsen the situation.
Dr. Shoro said Pakistan's average treatment delay far exceeds internationally accepted standards. According to WHO recommendations, the entire diagnostic process—including clinical evaluation, imaging, biopsy, and pathology—should ideally be completed within 60 days. International guidelines also emphasize rapid "Triple Assessment" through clinical examination, imaging, and tissue biopsy, followed by timely surgery, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and radiotherapy.
He warned that delays of more than three months significantly reduce survival chances, allowing cancer to progress and forcing many patients into palliative care instead of curative treatment. While five-year breast cancer survival rates exceed 85 percent in developed countries due to early diagnosis and prompt treatment, survival remains below 30 percent in Pakistan.
The PMA urged the Government of Pakistan to immediately align national cancer control policies with the WHO Global Breast Cancer Initiative (GBCI). It called for integrating cancer screening and treatment into universal health coverage, establishing free breast cancer screening and diagnostic facilities at tehsil and district hospitals, strengthening patient navigation systems to ensure diagnosis within 60 days, providing emergency funding for radiotherapy equipment and chemotherapy medicines, and launching a nationwide awareness campaign to promote early detection and eliminate stigma associated with breast cancer.
"The current 111-day delay is effectively a death sentence for thousands of Pakistani women," Dr. Shoro said, urging the government to treat women's health as a national priority and strengthen the country's public healthcare system to ensure timely and affordable cancer care for all.
