Our Story
Our Story
Our Story
Cancer is an emerging public health problem in Africa. According to the WHO, numbers will double by 2030, due to the aging and the growth of the population.
Cancer is an emerging public health problem in Africa. According to the WHO, numbers will double by 2030, due to the aging and the growth of the population.
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is a large country in the horn of East Africa, and the second most populated country in Africa, with over 100 million inhabitants. Cancer has become a leading cause of mortality in Ethiopia with breast cancer accounting for a quarter of cancer incidence followed by cervix, colorectal, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia and prostate.
For the past 30 years, radiation therapy is being delivered at only one hospital, Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH) in Addis Ababa, responsible for the radiation oncology needs of the entire country. The single site with a cobalt machine is coming to an end as six new linear accelerators (Varian Medical Systems, USA), are being installed in different Ethiopian cities (Awasa, Gondar, Harar, Jimma, and Mek’ele), one for each new cancer center as well as at TASH.
Training programs for clinical oncologists, medical physicists and radiotherapy technologists are highly needed in Ethiopia, due to lack of experience with linear accelerators in the country and shortage of radiotherapy personnel. In order to strengthen the training in radiation oncology, international collaboration is necessary to provide opportunities for residents to receive training on linear accelerators abroad, to develop technical skills and knowledge not yet available in Ethiopia to radiotherapy technologists as well as to improve quality of care in current practice.
Leadership
The founder is Luca Incrocci and he is a Professor of Genito-Urinary Radiotherapy at the Erasmus Medical Center Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
He is actively involved in international programs to provide education and improve radiation therapy access in African countries. He is a member of the UICC’s Global Task Force on Radiotherapy for Cancer Control and advisor for developing radiotherapy facilities and PhD programs in Ethiopia.
His research is focused on Quality of Life of cancer patients and on the development of radiation techniques to improve treatment outcome and to decrease side effects of radiotherapy for genito-urinary malignancies.
The founder is Luca Incrocci and he is a Professor of Genito-Urinary Radiotherapy at the Erasmus Medical Center Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
He is actively involved in international programs to provide education and improve radiation therapy access in African countries. He is a member of the UICC’s Global Task Force on Radiotherapy for Cancer Control and advisor for developing radiotherapy facilities and PhD programs in Ethiopia.
His research is focused on Quality of Life of cancer patients and on the development of radiation techniques to improve treatment outcome and to decrease side effects of radiotherapy for genito-urinary malignancies.
