(NewsNation) — As cancer rates rise globally, fewer women are getting tested for any form of the disease, a new survey found.
The Hologic Women’s Health Index‘s 2023 data found a decrease in testing for any cancer among women — a first in the survey’s four-year history.
The global survey shows that, in 2023, only 10% of women reported getting tested for cancer in the year prior. That’s a drop from 12% in 2020 and 2021.
The decline comes as the American Cancer Society predicts 2 million new cases of cancer and 600,000 cancer-related deaths in 2025 alone.
The decline was mainly reported by women over 40, a group particularly at risk. Incidence rates for cancer “overall climb steadily as age increases,” per the National Cancer Institute.
A 2024 study from the ACS also points to an increasing number of Millennials and Gen Xers diagnosed with 17 cancer types.
Nearly 146,000 men and women over the age of 15 answered the survey’s questions in person and on the phone. The survey includes responses from 142 countries and territories.
NewsNation’s Ashley Soriano contributed to this report.