IAEA helps countries mobilize investment to expand radiotherapy services

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is helping countries convert plans to expand radiotherapy services into concrete projects capable of attracting financing, according to a press release issued on 6 October 2026. At a side event held during the 70th IAEA General Conference on 17 September, Member States and financing partners outlined how strategic planning and innovative financing approaches are mobilizing funds for cancer care. Representatives of Côte d’Ivoire, Fiji, Mongolia and Tanzania shared their experiences. They were joined by representatives from MedAccess and the OPEC Fund. The discussions centered on translating national needs into bankable investment cases.

In 2024, around 20.6 million people were diagnosed with cancer and 9.8 million died from the disease, with cases set to rise in the next decade according to the latest estimates by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Many low- and middle-income countries still face significant barriers to financing the equipment, infrastructure and trained workforce needed for adequate cancer care. The IAEA supports countries in developing bankable documents that set out clinical need, infrastructure, equipment, workforce, safety and sustainability. These documents draw on IAEA expertise in diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine, radiation oncology and medical physics. Evidence from imPACT Reviews helps define investment priorities.

National ownership and expanded access

Côte d’Ivoire launched its first dedicated national medical oncology and radiotherapy facility in 2017, with strong government ownership attracting additional support for the National Centre for Medical Oncology and Radiotherapy (CNRAO).

“The government first did its part: the building, the equipment, the staff and the operating budget,” said Judith Didi-Kouko Coulibaly, Director General of CNRAO. “It was on that basis that we approached other partners, including the IAEA.”

Mongolia, meanwhile, is pursuing a €61 million investment to expand and decentralize services, informed by a 2024 imPACT Review and aligned with its national cancer control plan for 2025–2028. According to Chadraabal Mavag, Head of the Nuclear Technology Department at Mongolia’s Nuclear Energy Commission, only 40% of newly diagnosed cancer patients currently receive radiotherapy, despite an estimated 50 to 60% requiring it.

Translating need into viable projects

In Fiji, patients requiring radiotherapy have had to travel abroad for treatment, and the country is now working to establish its first radiotherapy centre with support from the World Bank’s Pacific Healthy Islands Transformation Project, the Asian Development Bank, the Pandemic Fund and the Australian Government. Tanzania has strengthened cancer care through long-term collaboration with the IAEA, expanding cancer centres and building capacity among health professionals.

“We all understand that there is a huge need. What financing partners will always look at is whether there is a pathway for translating that need into impact,” said Evans Mburu, Head of Implementation at MedAccess.

MedAccess is supporting a pay-per-use model for radiotherapy equipment in Kenya and Tanzania under a partnership signed with the IAEA in 2025.

Lewnis Boudaoui, Senior Country Manager at the OPEC Fund, highlighted a recently approved investment of more than US $75 million in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, marking the Fund’s first collaboration with the IAEA under Rays of Hope.

“From the very beginning, it is essential that coordination with the IAEA happens, so that all the information needed to show the impact and the bankability of the project is put together,” Boudaoui said.

By bringing together national authorities, technical experts and financing institutions, the IAEA supports countries in developing investment cases. These address not only equipment acquisition but also workforce, safety, infrastructure and long-term planning. The approach aims to deliver sustainable radiation medicine services worldwide.