Radiotherapy takes a bigger place in the global cancer conversation
At the UICC World Cancer Congress in Hong Kong, radiotherapy had an important place in discussions about how the global cancer community can respond to a growing cancer burden. Elekta joined the conversation, helping raise awareness of radiotherapy’s integral role in comprehensive cancer care while exploring how new approaches can help more patients access quality treatment.
The scale of the global cancer challenge is growing.
In 2024, 20.6 million people worldwide received a cancer diagnosis and 9.7 million died from the disease. By 2050, the number of new cancer diagnoses is projected to reach approximately 35 million a year.1 These figures underline not only the growing scale of cancer, but profound inequalities in how people experience the disease and access care.1
Against this backdrop, the UICC World Cancer Congress brought the global cancer community together in Hong Kong to consider how countries can strengthen cancer prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment and supportive care.
For Elekta, one encouraging signal from the Congress was the place of radiotherapy within that wider conversation.
Radiotherapy is an integral component of comprehensive cancer care alongside surgery and systemic therapies. Yet access remains deeply unequal. The WHO’s Global status report on cancer 2026 identifies substantial disparities in radiotherapy access, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Twenty-three LMICs with populations of more than one million have no active radiation facilities, leaving an estimated 197 million people without local access to radiotherapy.1
Progress in policy has not kept pace either. Approximately half of national cancer control plans lack an explicit radiotherapy strategy. 1
Against this background, raising awareness of radiotherapy’s role is important. But recognition also needs to translate into action to help more patients access high-quality care.
From recognition to access
The challenge will become more pressing as the need for treatment grows.
The OECD and European Commission’s 2026 report Delivering High Value Cancer Care points to the pressure increasing cancer demand will place on health systems, resources and workforce.2
Radiotherapy is no exception. Projections cited in the report estimate that demand for radiotherapy services will increase by 25% between 2022 and 2050, reaching around 2.4 million cancer patients in the EU. Meeting that demand would require almost 6,300 additional radiotherapy professionals, including radiation oncologists, medical physicists and radiotherapy technicians. 2
The OECD concludes that future demand will require investment in both radiotherapy workforce and equipment, while noting that countries are already exploring targeted investment, new payment models and other approaches to improve access. 2
These challenges were reflected in the opening plenary at UICC.
While most countries now have a national cancer control plan, the plenary highlighted an important implementation gap: only 27% of governments reported that their plans included financing strategies.3
As UICC CEO Cary Adams told the Congress: “We have to make a better financial case for cancer control.”
“We have to make a better financial case for cancer control.”
That provided important context for an Elekta-supported panel later at the Congress, which moved the discussion from the scale of the access challenge towards potential solutions.
Chaired by Dr Surbhi Grover of the University of Pennsylvania, the panel brought together perspectives from government, healthcare, international organisations and financing partners to explore new approaches to expanding sustainable access to radiotherapy.4
The discussion demonstrated why financing is about more than finding the capital to purchase a machine. Sustainable radiotherapy services also require infrastructure, trained professionals, maintenance and long-term planning.
Experiences from Kenya and Nigeria showed what this can mean in practice.
Dr Joan-Paula Bor-Malenya, who leads Kenya’s National Cancer Control Program, explained that the country has around 22 radiotherapy machines across its public and private sectors for a population of 54 million, against an estimated need for 42 to 50.
But increasing the number of machines alone does not guarantee sustainable access.
“Every time the machines break down, that’s a setback for your patients,” Dr Bor-Malenya told the panel.
“Every time the machines break down, that’s a setback for your patients.”
In Nigeria, Dr Tolulope Adewole, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Medserve Nigeria Limited and Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, described how investment in radiotherapy capacity had been supported by long-term planning, local-currency financing and maintenance provision. His experience also highlighted another essential component of access: “Investment in the workforce needs to precede the equipment.”
“Investment in the workforce needs to precede the equipment.”
It is a point reinforced by the OECD’s projections for future radiotherapy workforce needs.2
Kenya, meanwhile, is exploring a different approach to financing. Working with MedAccess and the Clinton Health Access Initiative, its Ministry of Health is developing a pay-per-use model that combines new equipment with long-term maintenance. A volume guarantee from MedAccess is designed to help manage some of the financial risk if patient numbers are lower than anticipated.4,5
MedAccess and Elekta announced their partnership in 2025, with Kenya and Tanzania identified as countries that could adopt the approach.5
It is one example of how Elekta is working with partners to explore new ways to address a shared challenge: how to make high-quality radiotherapy more sustainably accessible within health systems with very different resources and needs.
Thinking beyond the machine
A consistent message emerged from the discussions in Hong Kong: expanding access to radiotherapy requires more than technology.
The WHO report similarly finds that, while radiotherapy is increasingly recognised within national policies and benefit packages, significant gaps remain in its systematic inclusion in cancer strategies and financing frameworks. It calls for comprehensive planning and implementation to support more equitable global access.1
That includes keeping technology operational. Equipment functionality is itself an important constraint on access, particularly in lower-resource settings, according to WHO.1
During the UICC panel, Lisa Stevens, Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy, emphasised the importance of country-owned, investment-ready plans that account for buildings, staff, technology and ongoing maintenance.4
Success, the discussion highlighted, should not simply be measured when a new cancer centre opens. What matters is whether that service can continue delivering treatment to patients in the years that follow.4
Ultimately, access needs to mean more than the availability of a radiotherapy machine. As Dr Grover concluded: “It’s not just about access, it’s access to quality radiotherapy.”
“It’s not just about access, it’s access to quality radiotherapy.”
Watch the full UICC panel discussion on About Adaptive to hear perspectives from government, healthcare, international organisations and financing partners on new approaches to expanding sustainable access to radiotherapy.
From awareness to action
The conversations at the World Cancer Congress highlighted two challenges that need to progress together.
The first is ensuring that radiotherapy is recognised and prioritised as an integral part of comprehensive cancer care. The second is turning that recognition into sustainable access for patients.
For Elekta, advancing the standard of cancer care means contributing to both. It means continuing to innovate to support healthcare professionals in delivering increasingly precise and individualised treatment. It also means raising awareness of radiotherapy’s role and working with governments, healthcare providers, international organisations and financing partners to address barriers that can prevent advances in care from reaching patients.
The solutions will differ between countries. Health systems have different resources, infrastructure and patient needs. But the discussions in Hong Kong reinforced the need to prepare now for increasing demand by strengthening the systems, workforce and investment that make high-quality cancer care possible.
Advancing the standard of care is not only about expanding what is clinically possible. It is also about helping make that progress accessible and sustainable for more people.
For Elekta, that is fundamental to bringing hope to more patients.
References
- World Health Organization. Global status report on cancer 2026: the future we choose
together. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2026. ISBN 978-92-4-012397-7. https://www.who.int/teams/noncommunicable-diseases/ncds-management/cancer-programme/global-status-report-on-cancer-2026
- OECD/European Commission. Delivering High Value Cancer Care: European Cancer Inequalities
Registry Analytical Report. OECD Publishing, Paris; 2026. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/delivering-high-value-cancer-care_060869fe-en/full-report.html
- Union for International Cancer Control. Plenary 1: Where are we now? The global state of cancer control. UICC World Cancer Congress 2026, Hong Kong, 24-26 September 2026. https://www.worldcancercongress.org/
Union for International Cancer Control. Radiotherapy access and financing panel, chaired by Dr Surbhi Grover, UICC World Cancer Congress 2026, Hong Kong.
Source for panel quotations and the Kenya/Nigeria examples. https://www.aboutadaptive.com/events/uicc-world-cancer-congress/- Elekta/MedAccess. 2025 announcement concerning the radiotherapy access financing partnership.
https://medaccess.org/medaccess-and-elekta-aim-to-expand-access-to-cancer-care-in-africa-with-innovative-pay-per-use-model/
