May 18, 2015 — In Africa, cancer kills more people than HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Approximately 40 percent of cancer cases can be prevented, and 40 percent can be cured with the right treatment. Together with Elekta, ministries of health in almost a dozen African nations are now working to build up their radiation therapy infrastructures and save lives.
More than 50 percent of all cancer patients worldwide would benefit from radiation therapy during the course of their disease, either as the sole therapy or in combination with surgery and chemotherapy. Despite being home to 85 percent of the world's population, less than 35 percent of the world's radiotherapy facilities are in low-income countries. Africa is a prime example of the shortfall that leaves most cancer patients in low-income countries without access to potentially life-saving radiation therapy treatment.
Access to radiation therapy on the continent has been hampered by a variety of factors, including education and training. Elekta is committed to improving these circumstances and is investing substantially in its Learning and Innovation Center (LINC) training facility in Cape Town, South Africa. Here, clinicians can learn more about the use of linear accelerators, oncology information systems and treatment planning systems. The company is also actively working to address the unmet need for radiation therapy solutions.
In 2015, Elekta is engaged in providing cancer management solutions in several sub-Saharan countries, including:
Angola
Hospital da Casa de Seguranca de Presidente da Republica Luanda will install a Versa HD linear accelerator (linac), an Elekta Synergy linac with Agility and a Flexitron remote afterloading platform. The linacs and brachytherapy systems represent the first such units in Angola.
Kenya
Kenyatta National Hospital is installing Kenya's first Elekta Synergy Platform system, which is also the country's first public sector linac.
Mozambique
Hospital Central de Maputo will install the country's first Elekta Synergy Platform linear accelerator and Flexitron remote brachytherapy afterloading platform.
Namibia
Namibian Oncology Center is the site of the nation's first-ever linear accelerator, an Elekta Synergy with Agility.
Senegal
An Elekta Synergy with Agility will be installed in a new radiotherapy center currently under construction in Dakar.
South Africa
The Oncology Centre (Durban), a clinic of Equra Healthcare, has begun treating patients with the country's first Versa HD system. Equra also is using Mosaiq Oncology Information System at 26 sites with remote treatment planning, uniting all sites under a single database and making it the single largest Mosaiq cluster in the world.
In September 2015, Inkosi Albert Lathuli Central Hospital, Durban, will begin the clinical use of two Versa HD linacs together with Mosaiq.
Uganda
Mulago University Hospital is installing Uganda's first brachytherapy system, an Elekta Flexitron remote afterloading platform.
Zimbabwe
Harare Onco Care will site an Elekta Synergy system with Agility. The customer has five hospitals and is planning to become the leading provider of private radiotherapy services in the country.
For more information: www.elekta.com
August 09, 2024 
