Raising awareness
of the benefits
of radiotherapy
Radiotherapy is undervalued and needs greater investment, according to our new published report. Entitled Radiotherapy: seizing the opportunity in cancer care, the white paper recommends a five-point plan to boost uptake of radiotherapy and calls on all stakeholders – governments and policymakers, healthcare professionals, patients and professional societies, along with national and international research funds – to become ‘radiotherapy ambassadors’ to help raise awareness of the benefits of radiotherapy and secure its valuable position in comprehensive, optimal cancer care.
The report’s authors cite shortages of high-quality equipment, variations in training, insufficient integration of radiotherapy into treatment plans, lack of investment in research, lack of general understanding of radiotherapy as a cancer treatment and misconceptions regarding the safety of radiotherapy among the important factors contributing to radiotherapy’s poor image and underuse.
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The White Paper has been endorsed by:
A few facts about radiotherapy
SAVES LIVES
IMPROVES QUALITY OF LIFE
ONE MILLION
Animation apropos radiotherapy
There is a large gap between the actual and optimal utilisation of radiotherapy, with huge variations between different countries. As part of our drive to ensure high-quality radiotherapy is available to all who need it, we have launched a new animation. The animation highlights the importance of radiotherapy as a pillar of high-quality cancer care and the role it plays in saving more lives.
This animation has been produced as part of the Marie Curie Legacy Campaign - an initiative of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) and the ESTRO Cancer Foundation (ECF).
In the run-up to World Cancer Day 2019, ECF and ESTRO held a policy forum at the European Parliament hosted by Lieve Wierinck MEP to highlight the importance of radiotherapy as a core pillar of cancer care. The forum, titled Radiotherapy: seizing the opportunity in cancer care, focused on the current challenges surrounding access to high-quality radiotherapy which were published in our recently launched white paper, with speakers highlighting our five-point plan.
| Policy forum at the European Parliament, January 31 2019: Radiotherapy: seizing the opportunity in cancer care
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In the run-up to World Cancer Day 2019, ECF and ESTRO held a policy forum at the European Parliament hosted by Lieve Wierinck MEP to highlight the importance of radiotherapy as a core pillar of cancer care. The forum, titled Radiotherapy: seizing the opportunity in cancer care, focused on the current challenges surrounding access to high-quality radiotherapy which were published in our recently launched white paper, with speakers highlighting our five-point plan.
The forum included presentations from leading figures, followed by a panel discussion surrounding the need for different stakeholders to tackle the underutilisation of radiotherapy. |
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Read more Joanna Kazmierska from Greater Poland Cancer Centre, Poznan, opened the presentations, delivering a detailed overview of radiotherapy. She focused on the significant advancements that have been made, saying: ‘Behind all these treatment advancements stands technology. Antonella Cardone, Director of the European Cancer Patient Coalition, reinforced the importance of radiotherapy as a pillar of cancer treatment while focusing on the patient’s perspective. She cited the 10 facts presented in the white paper and acknowledged that, with current misconceptions and a lack of understanding from both clinicians and patients, attitudes need to change across the board.' Josep Borras of the Catalan Cancer Strategy and Yolande Lievens from Ghent University Hospital delivered a detailed look at the gaps that need to be filled across Europe and beyond. This included an overview of the existing gaps in the availability of machinery and trained healthcare professionals to deliver radiotherapy. It was noted that there are enormous gaps on a global scale, with some countries having no access to radiotherapy at all. Yolande Lievens said: ‘Based on demographic changes, some countries will need to increase capacity by 25% to keep up with demand.’ The panel discussion, moderated by Umberto Ricardi, ESTRO President, consisted of:
The panel discussed the question: how can different stakeholders work together to address current gaps in access to radiotherapy across Europe? An engaged discussion was had, which began with Lieve Wierinck MEP raising the importance of education and shared learning for clinicians. She said: ‘We need a plan where students and specialists can travel across Europe to learn from each other.’ Antonella Cardone also stressed the need for collaboration, raising the need for a multi-stakeholder, multidisciplinary approach. Michelle Leech pointed to the existing issues surrounding awareness, with too few people being referred for radiotherapy, adding: ‘The lack of referrals illustrates that other [non-specialist] health professionals are not aware of radiotherapy.’ We were delighted with the warm response from the policy forum and the engaging discussions that took place. We would like to thank all the speakers, panellists, attendees, and those who have supported the launch of this white paper and our campaign to ensure everyone who needs radiotherapy has access to it. Let’s seize the opportunity, together. Read less |
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Our latest tweets
We had brilliant discussions at the European Parliament last week, focusing on how we can ensure high-quality radiotherapy is made available to all who need it. Find out how this can be achieved with our five-point plan. #RadiotherapySavesLives bit.ly/MC-infographic pic.twitter.com/eoopCYISWT
