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Regional collaboration to improve quality of radiation therapy in Asia
Author(s) -
Gondhowiardjo Soehartati A,
Tham Ivan,
Giselvania Angela,
Bilimagga Ramesh S,
Octavianus Steven,
Hiraoka Masahiro,
Jayalie Vito Filbert,
Tamaki Tomoaki,
Calaguas Miriam,
Nakano Takashi
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of medical imaging and radiation oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.31
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1754-9485
pISSN - 1754-9477
DOI - 10.1111/1754-9485.13133
Subject(s) - medicine , economic shortage , radiation oncology , quality (philosophy) , face (sociological concept) , radiation therapy , government (linguistics) , surgery , linguistics , philosophy , epistemology , social science , sociology
Summary In Asia, several challenges hinder the delivery of high‐quality cancer treatment, especially radiation therapy (RT). Many Asian countries face large‐scale shortage of RT centres and treatment machines. Additionally, there is also a significant technological gap, with many RT centres in Asia still using outdated technology. There is an urgent need to improve radiation treatment quality in Asia. The Federation of Asian Organizations for Radiation Oncology (FARO) was set up to foster regional collaboration, which we believe can help to identify and solve some of these issues collectively. This report describes the background and rationale of starting FARO, and puts forth some of the early achievements of the group, including fact‐finding and educational activities. Finally, we discuss future possibilities, including strategic proposals that may benefit the RT community and our patients in Asia.