In the presence of HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Energy, and Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi, King Salman Humanitarian and Relief Center (KSrelief) and IAEA signed a memorandum to provide a financial support to low and medium-income countries and enhance their capabilities in providing radiotherapy at cancer treatment centers through “Rays of Hope” initiative.
The memorandum includes financial support of $2.5 million allocated by the Kingdom to low-income countries to establish centers specialized in diagnosing and treating cancer using ionizing radiation. The support includes providing X-ray machines, nuclear medicine, and radiotherapy, as well as building and developing human capacity through training programs for radiation oncologists, radiotherapy technologists, medical physicists, and other specialized practitioners.
The signing of the memorandum demonstrates the consistent support provided by the Kingdom to promote the efforts of IAEA in this field.
Cancer is considered one of the main causes for death, and researches predict there will be more than 25 million cancer cases in the next seven years. Although radiotherapy is a major tool in cancer diagnosis and treatment, only 10% of patients in low-income countries, and about 50%-60% patients in medium-income countries have access to radiotherapy treatment.
“Rays of Hope” initiative was launched in 2022 to reinforce access of cancer patients around the world to radiotherapy, which can be achieved through supporting the establishment and expansion of radiotherapy services in low and medium income countries. Initially, the Initiative includes seven African countries, however; more than 70 countries up to now have requested support from “Rays of Hope” initiative to increase the chance of obtaining radiotherapy treatment.
The Kingdom previously announced its support during HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman’s remarks at the IAEA Conference in September 2023. The Kingdom has announced a contribution of $2.5 million to support the IAEA’s initiative to modernize Seibersdorf laboratories (ReNuAL2), which will contribute to enhancing nuclear and radiological regulatory capabilities.
The Kingdom has also announced its donation of $1 million to support the IAEA’s initiative for Zoonotic Diseases Integrated Action (ZODIAC), launched by the IAEA to help prevent the outbreaks of infectious zoonotic diseases with the use of nuclear techniques.
