The United States has announced that it will provide $5 million to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for activities in support of cancer care in low- and middle-income countries, many of which lack adequate equipment and trained personnel to tackle a growing cancer burden.
“We are grateful to the government of the United States for this generous and most welcome contribution,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. “Many countries count on the IAEA’s expertise and ability to deliver concrete assistance that directly impacts the lives of cancer patients. These funds will go where they are needed the most.”
Monaco also announced a €40 000 contribution to the IAEA Women’s Cancer Partnership Initiative.
More than 50 percent of cancer patients require radiotherapy and the treatment is frequently used to tackle the most common types, such as breast, cervical, colorectal, and lung cancer. Access to radiotherapy, however, is inadequate and unevenly distributed across the world.
“There are many low and middle-income countries that still do not have a single radiotherapy machine,” Director General Grossi said. “We have to do more to bridge this gap.”
FILE PHOTO: The IAEA headquarters in Vienna
