Rays of Hope
The Rays of Hope initiative, launched in 2022, supports Member States’ efforts to increase access to safe and secure radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging services, with the goal of reducing cancer deaths worldwide.
More than 90 Member States have requested assistance through Rays of Hope and the Agency has responded by providing vital equipment. In 2024, linear accelerators were provided to Kenya, Malawi and the Niger, and SPECT-CT machines to Benin and Senegal. In addition, mammography units were delivered to six Member States in Latin America, expanding their screening and diagnostic capabilities to tackle breast cancer. Several countries, including Benin, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Dominican Republic, Malawi and Panama, are working on developing infrastructure related to nuclear medicine, radiotherapy and oncological services and the Agency has supported the training of 80 radiation medicine professionals around the world since the start of the initiative.
In 2024, the Agency more than doubled its growing network of Rays of Hope anchor centres, established as knowledge and capacity building hubs to advance cancer care access in their respective regions. Together with the Agency, these centres provide targeted support to other facilities in the region in education, training, innovation, research and quality assurance. Anchor centres in Argentina and Türkiye organized workshops to develop regional roadmaps to strengthen paediatric radiotherapy services and the centre in Japan held a training course for nuclear medicine physicians on theranostics techniques.
To support the anchor centres, the Agency organized a lecture on research programmes and an online workshop on contouring highlighting several of its innovative training tools. Expert missions were also conducted to identify key areas where the Agency could further support the centres. Furthermore, over 120 specialists from the world’s leading professional societies for radiation medicine are channelling their expertise and support to anchor centres through dedicated technical working groups.
Industry and international financial institutions continued to be crucial partners. Private sector companies such as Standard Imaging, PTW Dosimetry and IBA Dosimetry signed Practical Arrangements in support of Rays of Hope, including in-kind contributions to anchor centres, and Practical Arrangements were also signed with the OPEC Fund for International Development that included Rays of Hope within their scope.
