A leading European group of radiotherapy and oncology experts today sets out plans to tackle the lack of radiotherapy provision worldwide, with the aim of saving one million lives by 2035.
At the ESTRO 36 conference in Vienna, Austria, today (5 May, 2017), leaders of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) will announce plans for the Global Impact of Radiation in Oncology (GIRO) partnership, to create awareness of problems with access to the treatment and to help provide solutions.
Professor Yolande Lievens of Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, and also ESTRO president, said: “First of all, we need to understand what are the barriers to an adequate provision of radiotherapy and define how we can best tackle them, as well as outlining actions that the healthcare community can take to improve the current situation, both in their own countries and across the world.”
ESTRO has already addressed the need for cost-effective radiotherapy in Europe through its Health Economics in Radiation Oncology (HERO) project.
GIRO takes the idea a step further, looking globally and creating awareness of the problem of lack of access in countries where there is little understanding of the scale of the problem and no knowledge of the benefits of radiotherapy.
Edward Naessens, patient representative on the ESTRO Radiation Oncology Safety and Quality Committee, said: “It will be very important to increase understanding of the advantages of radiation therapy among patients as well as healthcare professionals in certain countries.
“We need to ensure that everyone concerned is properly informed on what is possibly the best-kept secret in cancer cure and management, as well as providing them with the tools that can help bring about change for the better.”
The GIRO project will apply data in pilot cases, and provide tools to enable decision-makers to address the problems of gaps in access to radiotherapy in a practical way.
The data have been gathered at European level by HERO, and at global level by the Global Task Force on Radiotherapy for Cancer Control.
Prof Lievens added: “Radiotherapy is an essential part of any successful cancer control programme. ESTRO and our partners in GIRO consider it our duty to use the knowledge we have gained over many years to help others who have been less fortunate. We are determined to make this project work for the benefit of all.”
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