Radiation therapy in Africa: distribution and equipment

Background and purpose: Africa is the least developed continent as regards radiation oncology resources. The documented ASR of cancer is of the order of 1 to 2 per 1000. With improving health care this is becoming more signif icant. This review was undertaken to help develop priorities for the region . Materials and methods: Radiation Oncology departments in Africa were identi fied and a survey of their equipment performed. These were compared to the reported situation in 1991. Population tables for the year 2000 were compar ed to available megavoltage machines. Results: Of 56 countries in Africa, only 22 are confidently known to have m egavoltage therapy concentrated in the southern and northern extremes of th e continent. The 155 megavoltage machines operating represents over 100% in crease over the past 8 years. The population served by each megavoltage mac hine ranges from 0.6 million to 70 million per machine. Overall, only 50% o f the population have some access to Radiation Oncology services. Conclusion: Progress has been made in initiating radiation oncology in Ghan a, Ethiopia and Namibia. There has been some increase in machines in Algeri a, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. However, a large backlog exists for b asic radiation services. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.