New study underscores the need for equitable access to radiation therapy services globally
A new study published in the Journal of Global Oncology has revealed that there is a gross undersupply of radiation therapy services worldwide.
The study undertaken by Dr Mei Ling Yap, radiation oncologist at Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research and University of New South Wales, with collaborators from France and Austria, aimed to estimate the current need for radiation therapy services, based on the incidence of cancer in individual country around the world.
Despite radiation therapy being an effective treatment to cure cancer and provide symptomatic relief for the disease, the study estimated that another 7,000 radiation therapy machines would be required worldwide to meet the needs of cancer patients. This shortage was most evident in low and middle income countries, where the rates of cancer are rising, but Australia was also shown to have a current shortage of radiation therapy machines.
The authors demonstrated that over the last decade, in the poorest countries in the world, the shortage in radiation therapy services has become more pronounced. They concluded that this marked shortage in radiation therapy services is an urgent issue, with millions of cancer patients worldwide currently unable to access a potentially life-saving treatment.
Online advocacy platforms such as targetingcancer.com.au and globalrt.org are important in helping to raise awareness of the need for equitable access to radiation therapy around the world.
Read more here: http://jgo.ascopubs.org/content/early/2016/03/13/JGO.2015.001545.full
