Research Project
10375072
Physics Quality Assurance Assessment in Low Resource Areas Abstract: Radiation therapy (RT) is a highly cost-effective and widely-used tool in the management of cancer. It is especially useful in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) because it is non- invasive and allows for functional organ preservation in medically relevant cancers that are over-represented in LMICs. However, there is a gap globally in access to RT services. The overall goal of the funded parent grant to this application is to develop cost-effective RT technology for application in the LMIC setting. This Diversity Supplement will extend the parent grant into the realm of physics quality assurance (QA). One of the key core components of delivering high-quality radiation therapy is to have a robust quality assurance (QA) program in the clinic. In this Diversity Supplement we propose to assess the QA practices in LMICs. Independent quality audits exist such as the IAEA Quality Assurance Team for Radiation Oncology program (QUATRO) however no one has assessed the quality assurance practices and needs in LMICs. This project puts us a step closer to achieving equal and quality global health care through medical physics practices. The focus of this application is on the African continent. Africa is the least developed continent in terms of radiotherapy services and per GLOBICON data over 60% (https://gco.iarc.fr/today/online-analysis) of the total cancer incidents globally occur on this continent. To assess the feasibility of this proposal we collected preliminary data in the form of a survey of 13 centers in a mixture of 6 countries with a 92% response rate. These data indicate that QA needs in RT centers in low-GDP per capita countries was more than in the high-GDP countries surveyed. This provides strong motivation for this proposed further work. Specific Aim 1: Assess quality assurance resources and gaps amongst all countries with radiotherapy services in Africa. Specific Aim 2: Pilot study of auditing quality assurance practices in the radiotherapy centers in Ghana by collaborating with the Ghana Society for Medical Physics (GSMP) to build a comprehensive national local program.
