Mumbai: The Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), popularly known as Tata Hospital for cancer care among the masses, has been recognised as the ‘Anchor Centre’ for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) ‘Rays of Hope’ (RoH) initiative, which aims to provide cancer care in developing countries.
As an Anchor Centre, TMC will train fellows, organise training courses for healthcare providers, participate in IAEA-coordinated research projects, promote networking, and provide experts and mentorship to other radiotherapy and medical imaging centres in the neighbouring Low and Middle-Income countries (LMIC).
In an event held on Thursday, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between TMC and IAEA where Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of IAEA emphasized ‘Cancer Care for All’ through the RoH program. Grossi said, “Cancer patients are rising and the mortality rate is not decreasing as it should despite advancements in science and technology. We decided to try to tackle this issue through the ‘Rays of Hope’ initiative, which is aimed at bringing radiotherapy to all corners of the world, especially in developing countries, in a practical, economical and scientific way.”
“The TMC is an example of how this problem can be dealt efficiently with compared to parts of the works. Thus, the IAEA decided to recognise TMC as an Anchor Centre to take RoH initiative, through which we intend to support equipment, training, research and innovation, and activities through the Regional Anchor Centres to maximize the delivery of high-impact interventions to cancer patients in LMICs,” Grossi added.
The RoH initiative in the long term aims to increase the survival rate of cancer patients. As per a senior doctor from TMC, globally 40 million cancer patients are diagnosed per year. However, the survival rate is 50%. Some countries also do not have public radiation therapy centres. TMC has been contributing expertise to Cancer hospitals and Institutions globally.
