# A cost-effective radiation treatment delivery system for the low- and middle-income countries

> **NIH NIH UH3** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2021 · $43,804

## Abstract

Physics Quality Assurance Assessment in Low Resource Areas Abstract:
Radiation therapy (RT) is a highly cost-effective and widely-used tool in the management of
cancer. It is especially useful in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) because it is non-
invasive and allows for functional organ preservation in medically relevant cancers that are
over-represented in LMICs. However, there is a gap globally in access to RT services. The
overall goal of the funded parent grant to this application is to develop cost-effective RT
technology for application in the LMIC setting. This Diversity Supplement will extend the parent
grant into the realm of physics quality assurance (QA). One of the key core components of
delivering high-quality radiation therapy is to have a robust quality assurance (QA) program in
the clinic. In this Diversity Supplement we propose to assess the QA practices in LMICs.
Independent quality audits exist such as the IAEA Quality Assurance Team for Radiation
Oncology program (QUATRO) however no one has assessed the quality assurance practices
and needs in LMICs. This project puts us a step closer to achieving equal and quality global
health care through medical physics practices. The focus of this application is on the African
continent. Africa is the least developed continent in terms of radiotherapy services and per
GLOBICON data over 60% (https://gco.iarc.fr/today/online-analysis) of the total cancer incidents
globally occur on this continent. To assess the feasibility of this proposal we collected
preliminary data in the form of a survey of 13 centers in a mixture of 6 countries with a 92%
response rate. These data indicate that QA needs in RT centers in low-GDP per capita
countries was more than in the high-GDP countries surveyed. This provides strong motivation
for this proposed further work.
Specific Aim 1: Assess quality assurance resources and gaps amongst all countries with
radiotherapy services in Africa.
Specific Aim 2: Pilot study of auditing quality assurance practices in the radiotherapy centers in
Ghana by collaborating with the Ghana Society for Medical Physics (GSMP) to build a
comprehensive national local program.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10375072
- **Project number:** 3UH3CA211310-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Eric C Ford
- **Activity code:** UH3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $43,804
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-05-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10375072

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10375072, A cost-effective radiation treatment delivery system for the low- and middle-income countries (3UH3CA211310-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10375072. Licensed CC0.

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