Companies, Academic Sector in Japan Support ‘Rays of Hope’ Cancer Initiative

For six decades, the IAEA has helped countries fight cancer, in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) - and for the first time an IAEA director general has invited Japanese companies to partner with the IAEA to help scale up the global fight against cancer.

"IAEA assistance has enabled many countries to strengthen safe, secure and effective radiation medicine capabilities," said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi at an event in Tokyo with senior representatives of over a dozen pharmaceutical, health care and other companies operating in Japan. "However, the IAEA is seeking more resources and help to bridge the enormous shortfall in equipment and personnel in developing countries."

Mr Grossi, who is on a three-day visit to Japan, presented the IAEA initiative, Rays of Hope, which was launched on World Cancer Day this year, on the margins of the African Union Summit to tackle the global inequity in access to cancer care. President Macky Sall of Senegal, Chairperson of the African Union, and other heads of state and government launched the new initiative alongside Mr Grossi.

The Tokyo event was hosted by the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine, the Japan Radiological Society, the Japanese Society of Radiation Oncology and co-sponsored by the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, the Association for Nuclear Technology in Medicine and the Asia Oceania Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology.

"Japan welcomes and will actively support Rays of Hope," said Kentaro Uesugi, Parliamentary Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, at the event.

The IAEA, which has traditionally relied on funding from its Member States, is forging new partnerships and tapping into diverse sources of funding, including from financial institutions, development banks and the private sector to ensure maximum impact and the sustainability of Rays of Hope. "By organizing a coalition of donors and partners, the IAEA can best support the enhancement of radiation medicine and save lives," Mr Grossi said. The initiative will employ the breadth of the IAEA's expertise to support countries in the safe diagnosis and treatment of cancer using radiation medicine.

Rays of Hope will begin supporting seven African countries - Benin, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Niger and Senegal - in its first phase. The initiative will extend to Asia and the Latin America and Caribbean regions later this year.