4 Feb 2013

VIENNA / WORLD CANCER DAY

On World Cancer Day (4 February), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s Director General Yukiya Amano addresses the myth that cancer affects only rich countries. In fact, seventy percent of the 10 million deaths caused by cancer each year occur in low- and middle-income countries, according to the agency. IAEA

Posted at: February 4, 2013 2:23 pm

Duration: 02:44

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY:  VIENNA / WORLD CANCER DAY
TRT: 2.44
SOURCE: IAEA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 4 FEBRUARY 2013, VIENNA, AUSTRIA

SHOTLIST:

FILE – DATE UNKNOWN – IAEA HEADQUARTERS, VIENNA, AUSTRIA

1. Wide shot, IAEA headquarters

4 FEBRUARY 2013, VIENNA, AUSTRIA

2. Wide shot, press conference
3. Cutaway, audience
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Yukiya Amano, Director General IAEA:
"One of the most persistent myths about cancer is that it is a mainly a disease of wealthy countries. In fact around seventy percent of cancer deaths occur in developing countries."
5. Cutaway, guests
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Yukiya Amano, Director General IAEA:
"When I went to a country in the former Eastern block I was told that they appreciated very much the cancer machine that we donated and over three thousand patients have been treated. but it also means 'what happens if we didn't donate'. What happens if this single machine goes down?"
7. Cutaway, audience
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Yukiya Amano, Director General IAEA:
"It is estimated that there is a shortage of around five thousand radio machines in developing countries. If you see the map of the African continent we can identify many countries in which there is no single cancer machine. That means that millions of people in Africa and elsewhere have no access to diagnostic services or treatment. Too many die of conditions that are actually treatable. This is an immense human tragedy."
9. Cutaway, guests
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Yukiya Amano, Director General IAEA:
"What the IAEA can do is limited but through our expertise, with our expertise and with our experience of training people and our high safety culture I believe that we can make a difference."

FILE –DATE UNKNOWN, SRI LANKA

11. Various shots, patients waiting in oncology ward

FILE – DECEMBER 2009, NATIONAL HOSPITAL ABUJA, NIGERIA

12. Close up, glass window and physician examining a cancer patient 
13. Close up, radiotherapy equipment
14. Med shot, control panel of radiotherapy equipment 
15. Close up, control panel of radiotherapy equipment
16. Close up, damaged radiotherapy machine

FILE – 2010, TANZANIA

17. Med shot, patient being treated at Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Tanzania
18. Med shot, female patient's back and face during radiation treatment
19. Med shot, control panel of radiological equipment

FILE – 2006, BAKU, AZERBAIJAN

20. Various shots, female patient getting ready to receive radiological treatment
21. Med shot, computer screen displaying patient undergoing radiological treatment

STORYLINE:

At an event held today (4 February) at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria to mark the annual World Cancer Day, the UN nuclear watchdog's Director-General, Yukiya Amano, cautioned that despite progress made in fighting the disease, much remained to be done, particularly in low- to middle-income countries where the majority of cancer-related deaths occur.

Amano said that one of the myths surrounding cancer was that it was mainly a disease from the rich countries and he added that "in fact around seventy percent of cancer deaths occur in developing countries".

One of the concerns for Amano was the shortness of radiotherapy machines in the developing world, he said that there was a shortage of around 5,000 radiotherapy machines in developing countries. He noted that that translated into "millions of people, in Africa and elsewhere, have no access to diagnostic services or treatment."

Spotlighting his agency's efforts in bridging the diagnosis and treatment gap between the developed and developing world, Amano lamented that in developing countries "too many die of conditions that are actually treatable."

World Cancer Day, which is observed on 4 February every year, was initiated in 2005 by the Union for International Cancer Control. This year, the Day is being marked as the world prepares for the UN General Assembly's High-level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, which includes cancer as well as cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, in September. The four ailments cause more than 60 per cent of all global deaths, or more than 35 million fatalities annually.