The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) have agreed to assist Vietnam in cancer control through IAEA’s Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT).

OFID Director-General J. Al Herbish forwarded 450,000 USD to IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano to implement this project.

Initiated in 2004, PACT aims to help low and middle income countries deal with the increasing cancer crisis. Together with its partners, IAEA continues commitments to strengthening the control of cancer in the globe.

IAEA and OFID have successfully implemented PACT projects in Ghana , Zambia , Uruguay , Albany , Nicaragua and Tanzania . Over the past three years, OFID has provided non-refundable aid of 800,000 USD and loans of 15 million USD for the implementation of these projects.

IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano stressed that the anti-cancer struggle has become one of the organisation’s top priorities as the non-infectious disease causes the most deaths in the world.

Since the fight against cancer was launched in low and middle income countries 32 years ago, IAEA has spent over 250 million USD on cancer prevention and treatment services and equipment and health worker training in order to improve the anti-cancer capacity for developing countries./.