IAEA to help Jamaica widen cancer treatment access over two years

GENEVA, Switzerland: Jamaica is to benefit from assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency as the Government prepares to strengthen cancer services islandwide during the next two years.

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton disclosed the development after a technical discussion with the Vienna-based IAEA on the sidelines of the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva.

Tufton said specialists from the agency are expected in Jamaica in the coming months to review the country’s current cancer-treatment capacity and help design an expansion plan.

Their work will cover the linear accelerator, or LINAC, units in Kingston and Montego Bay, which provide radiation treatment for people with cancer. The team is also expected to prepare guidance for improving those centres and consider whether another site could be developed, possibly in central Jamaica.

The collaboration is also intended to help widen public-sector mammography access. That review will look at whether the service can be offered at selected health centres, rather than only through hospitals.

Tufton said workforce development will be central to the programme, with training for health workers, including radiographers, expected to be included in the IAEA visit.

He said the Government has also asked the agency to include plans for maintaining and servicing specialised cancer-care equipment, noting that equipment upkeep has previously disrupted service delivery.

The World Health Assembly, which serves as the decision-making forum of the World Health Organization, runs from May 18 to 23 and brings health leaders together to examine major health concerns and policy options.