The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has designated the Princess Máxima Center for Paediatric Oncology as a Collaborating Centre to strengthen childhood cancer care worldwide.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi signed the partnership agreement in Utrecht, Netherlands, in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Máxima. The agreement aims to bolster practical knowledge and training in the use of radiotherapy for treating children with cancer.
“It is our mission to reduce the big disparities in radiotherapy for children around the world; knowledge and training are a key part of that,” Grossi said. “I am very pleased that paediatric radiotherapy teams will be able to take what they have learned at the Princess Máxima Center back to colleagues in their home countries, and ultimately to the children and families who count on them.”
The designation will advance education, training and quality assurance in paediatric radiation oncology, medical physics and nutrition, supporting the IAEA’s Human Health Programme and its Rays of Hope initiative. The IAEA will collaborate with the center to improve radiotherapy treatment for children with cancer.
Prof. Dr. Rob Pieters, Chief Máxima International at the Princess Máxima Center, said the partnership will allow the center to train radiotherapy oncologists to treat children more safely and effectively in their home countries, and to deepen research collaborations with hospitals in underserved regions. “It substantially contributes to our center’s mission which is shared by pediatric oncologists worldwide: curing every child with cancer, with the best possible quality of life. Everywhere,” he said.
As a Collaborating Centre, the Princess Máxima Center will provide expert support to IAEA technical missions, including paediatric radiation oncology quality assurance missions and QUATRO audits, and will help develop guidance documents and training materials for radiation oncology, medical physics and nutrition professionals.
The IAEA and the Princess Máxima Center said they will prioritize joint efforts in Africa, beginning with a new partnership in Kenya, to expand access to high-quality paediatric cancer care. The centre will also host regional training courses for paediatric radiation oncology teams, starting with a course currently underway in Utrecht, and will target capacity-building in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia.
The designation supports the IAEA’s Rays of Hope initiative, which seeks to expand access to cancer care in low- and middle-income countries by strengthening radiotherapy and related services and developing global standards and training programmes for safe, effective and sustainable childhood cancer treatment.
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