September 24, 2016 STOCKHOLM, Sweden & BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Elekta (STO:EKTA B) announced that it has expanded its partnership with Radiating Hope (http://www.radiatinghope.org/), a volunteer organization that provides radiation equipment to resource-constrained countries and educates medical physics and radiation oncology personnel in those countries to help better serve their patient populations.

Radiating Hope believes that no patient should be denied potentially life-saving treatment simply because the technology is not affordable. Consequently, it cooperates with hospitals and clinics around the world to take care of their replaced equipment, refurbish the machine and then ship it to a developing country. Funds are raised through a number of mountain climbing events, with diverse destinations including Mt. Rainier, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Everest Base Camp. Proceeds go toward the purchasing or refurbishing of radiation equipment for use in developing countries.

“Radiating Hope has a mission to improve cancer care, specifically radiation oncology care in areas of the world where treatment can be hard to find,” says Tom Ladd, Executive Director of Radiating Hope. “We are very grateful for the support and partnership of Elekta in helping us to fulfill our mission. With Elekta’s guidance and involvement, Radiating Hope has been able to place radiation machines and equipment in Senegal, Tanzania, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama. The stronger partnership with Elekta will allow Radiating Hope to continue to support the areas of need in which we are engaged, particularly in Latin America and Africa. We look forward to working and partnering with Elekta for many years to come in order to bring needed treatment where, today, there is none.”
Focus on making equipment accessible to underserved regions

A recent publication in Lancet Oncology* estimates that a global scale-up of radiotherapy capacity in 2015–35 from current levels could lead to saving of 26.9 million life-years in low-income and middle-income countries over the lifetime of the patients who received treatment.

“We are so pleased to be strengthening our partnership with Radiating Hope, to further Elekta’s commitment to improving radiation therapy care for underserved patient populations in developing countries,” says Rachel White, Head of Corporate Brand Management for Elekta. “By expanding our partnership activities into Latin America, we aim to replicate the tremendous successes from our 2010 donation of a brachytherapy afterloader at the Institut Curie in Dakar, Senegal, which enabled thousands of Senegalese women with cervical cancer to receive treatment.”

Rad Oncology Homepage