A decade of action on cancer control [IAEA Bulletin (Online), v. 60(3)]

Cancer was responsible for the death of nearly 10 million people last year. The number of cancer-related deaths is on the rise, and developing countries are particularly hard hit. For many years, the IAEA has worked to improve access to nuclear medicine — including diagnostic imaging — radiotherapy and dosimetry in developing countries. During the last ten years, under the leadership of late Director General Yukiya Amano, helping countries to tackle the cancer burden became one of the priority areas of the Agency. Supporting countries in offering comprehensive cancer care and improved radiotherapy services to an increasing number of patients became a key strategic goal of the IAEA. While there are still close to 60 countries where less than a quarter of patients have access to radiotherapy, access has increased significantly in at least 20 developing countries over the last five years.