The American Cancer Society reported a grim breast cancer milestone for African-American women in the United States. The health organization reported that breast cancer incidence on black US women is equal to that of white women for the first time.

The report is worrying health experts and African-American women in the US because as per historic records, breast cancer has been more deadly in black women than in white women. The data gathered by the organization revealed that breast cancer rate will continue to trouble black women. As per the report, the current trends are showing no sign of abating.

Marc Hurlbert, chief mission officer for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, said the report suggested that breast cancer milestone among black women is a crisis. It was unfortunate to see the increasing incidence because the mortality rate for African-American women is much higher, Hurlbert added. If the number of black women getting breast cancer will continue to rise, the number of black women dying from the disease will also rise, according to Hurlbert.

The report by the American Cancer Society has shown the black women in the US are at a significant disadvantage compared with white women in the country.

Rev. Sheron Patterson, an author a breast cancer survivor, said, “So many African-American women are carrying emotional weight in their body. We suffer from so many disparities, not just in the health department, but economically, we’re at the bottom of the ladder. Crime wise, we’re at the top in terms of being victims.”