The IAEA and UK social enterprise MedAccess have launched a new partnership under the Rays of Hope: Cancer Care for All initiative. This collaboration will focus on advancing innovative financing solutions to improve access to affordable, high-quality radiation medicine services in low- and middle-income countries.
“Today marks the beginning of a promising partnership between the IAEA and MedAccess under the framework of the Rays of Hope initiative,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi during the partnership signing ceremony on Monday.
“Innovative financing models have an important role in enabling countries to invest in radiotherapy equipment and services for cancer patients,” MedAccess CEO Michael Anderson said. “Rays of Hope provides a platform to evaluate and test such models to accelerate access to reliable radiation therapy.”
MedAccess is an independent organisation funded by British International Investment with a mission to improve access to life-saving health technologies in underserved communities. It helps accelerate access to essential medical products through financial guarantees that reduce market risks while increasing availability for patients.
One example is the recently launched pay-per-use model for radiotherapy equipment, developed in partnership with Elekta. The model was inspired in part by IAEA-reviewed Bankable Documents — comprehensive planning tools that help countries evaluate and implement radiation medicine projects. Under the pay-per-use model, governments make a lower upfront payment for radiotherapy machines, with subsequent payments linked to actual machine usage. This approach lowers initial financial barriers while ensuring long-term service and maintenance, supporting more resilient cancer care delivery. To support uptake, MedAccess will provide Elekta with volume guarantees for patient usage of machines placed in Kenya and Tanzania.
Going forward, the IAEA and MedAccess will together identify and adapt financing mechanisms suitable for countries participating in the Rays of Hope initiative through this new partnership. The collaboration aims to catalyse investment, promote sustainable procurement and expand access to life-saving cancer services where they are needed most.
“For a person diagnosed with cancer, the difference between life and death is too often down to their place of residence,” said Mr Anderson. “Our partnership with IAEA underlines our shared efforts to make radiotherapy treatment more affordable and accessible in underserved communities.”
Looking ahead, MedAccess will participate in the upcoming Rays of Hope Forum in Addis Ababa, contributing to a session on financing for cancer care. There, they will share insights into the pay-per-use model and showcase how collaborative efforts with the IAEA and industry partners can transform global access to radiotherapy services.
This new partnership reinforces the IAEA’s commitment to fostering sustainable cancer care solutions through cross-sector collaboration. By exploring opportunities for demand aggregation, sustainable procurement, and reliable service models, the IAEA MedAccess partnership aims to ensure that more people — regardless of where they live — can benefit from equitable, high-quality cancer treatment.
