To mark one year since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Global Coalition for Radiotherapy's RT Task Force thanks all contributors for the continuous work and efforts to support the individuals impacted by cancer and the war in Ukraine.
“Our first patient who had radiotherapy on the new machine, was a man with lung cancer. And then after completing radiotherapy, he went to battle at the front, because he was a leader in the armed services. And many patients, who completed therapy did not return home, but immediately went to the battlefield. We were amazed, but they went directly to help with the war effort.” - Khmelnytsky Regional Antitumor Center
Our friends at hospitals and centers in Ukraine have shared their experiences with the GCR Radiotherapy Task Force by providing data and intel to support, as well as, powerful interviews. Thank you to our volunteers for their help with translation, particularly Dr. Timothy Korytko who supported this most recent interview with the Khmelnytsky Regional Antitumor Center.
Additional updates from the RT Task Force members include the following:
ECO-ASCO Special Network on the Impact of the War in Ukraine on Cancer will hold its next meeting on Wednesday 1 March 16:00-17:30 CET.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 879 0795 1573
The Blue Heron Foundation reported 170 medical files evaluated and assistance provided to 95 patients. The foundation continues to financially support 56 patients in the country of Moldova and fundraise to support these efforts. If you are interested in supporting their work, please be in touch with Dr. Horia Vulpe: horiavulpe@gmail.com.
The UK Government held a one-minute moment of silence for Ukraine on Friday, February 24, 2023. Learn more here.
As we continue to reach out to our colleagues around the world managing crises, we received this note from Dr. Gökhan Özyiõit, M.D., President of the Turkish Society for Radiation Oncology upon our inquiry about the earthquakes along the Turkey-Syria border.
“At the moment, the death toll is more than 40 thousand and 100 thousand more are injured. Unfortunately, the death toll is increasing [as more earthquakes continue to strike] 10 big cities with a population of 15 million are affected. Regarding radiotherapy services and cancer care, the unaffected neighbouring cities as well as Istanbul and Ankara are well-organized, and are still supporting and providing continuous cancer care and radiotherapy treatments. We are closely monitoring the affected area. However, we have well noted your help request. On behalf of Turkish Society for Radiation Oncology, I would like to thank the Global Coalition for Radiotherapy.” - Dr. Gökhan Özyiõit, M.D., President of the Turkish Society for Radiation Oncology
The GCR thanks everyone for the dedication to the global radiotherapy community and supporting cancer patients in Ukraine and around the world. May we continue to work with the same sentiment as our colleagues at the Khmelnytsky Regional Antitumor Center:
These are our people. These are all our patients. We are all Ukrainian.
Learn more about the ongoing efforts to support Ukraine here: