The epidemiological change that has occurred in Chile since the second half of the 20th century has shown the increase in morbidity and mortality due to non-communicable diseases. In this way, cancer is currently the second cause of death in the Chilean population, and specifically breast cancer is the first cause of death in the female population. In the last 50 years there have been numerous interventions that reflect the concern to improve these indicators, implementing those measures recommended by the WHO. However, a series of characteristics of our reality as a country have generated a series of challenges for the real implementation of a successful breast cancer program in the country. This work aims to analyze from a reflective perspective what are the main advances and challenges that Chile presents in the global and multifactorial approach to this pathology.

Isabel Nunez is a Nurse-Midwife from the Catholic University of Chile, a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of the Andes and a PHD in science from the University of Sao Paulo. She is Senior lecture at the Universidad de Los Andes where she works as a research professor. Her line of research is women's health. During the Pandemic, together with a team of researchers from the university, she won a FONIS, (National Health Research Fund) investigating the effect of maternal stress due to COVID on breastfeeding and child development.