BARCELONA, Spain, April 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Together with
its customers, Elekta raised EUR
30,575 (USD 33,250) during the
3rd ESTRO Forum in Barcelona. The
funds will be donated to Radiating Hope, a nonprofit organization
with the mission to improve cancer care, specifically radiation
oncology care, around the world.
Radiating Hope believes that no patient should be denied
potentially life-saving treatment simply because the technology is
not affordable. Consequently, it cooperates with hospitals and
clinics around the world to take care of their replaced equipment,
refurbish the machine and then ship it to a developing country.
President and co-founder of the organization, Dr. Brandon Fisher, says: "While I was a radiation
oncology resident, I did a medical mission in Africa and discovered that such missions in
radiation therapy were almost nonexistent. I wanted to change
that."
An avid mountaineer, Fisher explains that Radiating Hope raises
awareness and funds by organizing mountain climbs around the world,
with an annual trek up Mount Kilimanjaro. "Almost anyone in decent
physical shape can make this climb," he says. "We'd love to have
any of Elekta's customers and employees join us next year."
Elekta and Radiating Hope used the ESTRO Forum to strengthen
their partnership agreement, which will see Elekta making an
increased commitment to giving people in developing countries
access to radiation therapy. The partners also discussed how to
advance the role of education and training in countries where the
equipment might exist, but not the clinical experience.
Ian Alexander, Executive Vice
President of Elekta's Region Europe, Africa, Latin
America and Middle East
says the two organizations are well matched. "Supporting Radiating
Hope is a natural choice for us as we both work from what is best
for the patient, are devoted to emerging markets and we share
experience in overcoming challenges.
"Our collaboration goes back to 2010 when Elekta helped install
a brachytherapy afterloader at the Institut Curie in Dakar, Senegal. Since then, thousands of
Senegalese women with cervical cancer have received treatment they
might never have had without Radiating Hope. I look forward to
developing this relationship further and repeating our success in
Senegal and perhaps climbing
Kilimanjaro with Radiating Hope."
Read more about Radiating Hope at: www.radiatinghope.org
For further information, please contact:
Gert van Santen, Group Vice President Corporate
Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +31 653 561 242, e-mail: gert.vansanten@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time
Raven Canzeri, Global Public
Relations Manager, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2524, e-mail: raven.canzeri@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time
About Elekta
Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant
innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain
disorders. The company develops sophisticated, state-of-the-art
tools and treatment planning systems for radiation therapy,
radiosurgery and brachytherapy, as well as workflow enhancing
software systems across the spectrum of cancer care. Stretching the
boundaries of science and technology, providing intelligent and
resource-efficient solutions that offer confidence to both health
care providers and patients, Elekta aims to improve, prolong and
even save patient lives.
Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in
over 6,000 hospitals worldwide. Elekta employs around 3,800
employees globally. The corporate headquarters is located in
Stockholm, Sweden, and the company
is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm. Website: www.elekta.com.
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SOURCE Elekta
