Dr. Paun, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues,
Thank you for asking me to join you this afternoon for what will be I hope a meaningful, instructive and valuable several hours to learn about what we believe to be very important American technologies. The topic is of course radio-neurosurgery and it’s hosted by Varian, a proud American company from Palo Alto, California.
As my colleague said, the disease that we’re targeting today is cancer. I understand that nearly 80,000 Romanians are diagnosed with cancer every year and that international benchmarks suggest that at least or close to 40,000 of those with cancer could and should receive radio therapy as part of their treatment of course.
Unfortunately, Romania has the largest gap in offering access to radio therapy of any European country with only one quarter, 25% of the radio machines needed to serve its population. As a result, Romanians living with cancer face long waiting lists, with an average delay of three to four months before they are able to start their radio therapy treatments.
Varian Madical Systems, founded in 1948 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, has grown to become the leading producer of medical technology and software for treating cancer with radiation therapy, radio surgery, proton therapy and brachytherapy.
More than 6,800 Varian employees in 70 offices worldwide share a common goal – to help equip the world with new tools for fighting cancer.
Today, Varian will present to you a revolutionary combination of advanced technologies with significant clinical advancements in the fight against cancer and other neurological conditions.
Varian is a prime example of a U.S. firm that has brought its expertise and world-class technologies to the public and private sectors in countries around the world.
In addition, we have representatives from Brainlab, headquartered in Chicago which developed the Brainlab Academy, training yearly more than 400 surgeons, physicians and physicists.
We hope today’s presentations and your discussion will be informative in light of the strategy adopted by the Ministry of Health to improve Romania’s radiotherapy infrastructure and offer better access to cancer treatment for Romanian patients.
This afternoon provides an excellent opportunity to learn more about how creating aligned and innovative healthcare models through strong partnerships, how they can lead to better outcomes for Romanian healthcare.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to introduce Dr. Diana Paun, Counselor to President Iohannis on health issues.
