SETIF, Algeria, Jan. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Cancer patients in Algeria will gain access to more advanced treatments when three state-of-the-art treatment machines from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) are installed at a new radiotherapy department at Setif in the coming months. The Algerian Ministry of Health has ordered three Varian medical linear accelerators as part of a major government initiative to equip the country with modern radiotherapy systems.
The Varian Clinac® iX devices, along with Eclipse treatment planning software and ARIA® oncology information management software, will enable doctors at the newly-constructed facility to deliver advanced treatments such as intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT).
“We are pleased to be part of the Algerian Ministry of Health’s program to make modern cancer treatments accessible to more patients,” says Dow Wilson, Varian’s chief executive officer. “Varian has successfully improved the precision and speed of radiotherapy and radiosurgery in order to make it both a cost-effective and widely-available weapon in the war on cancer.”
Cancer in Algeria
Algeria is experiencing an increase in cancer incidence, driven by the growth and ageing of its population as well as a high prevalence of smoking. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) GloboCan project indicates that in 2008, Algeria had 28,736 cancer cases. This is projected to rise to 35,628 in 2015, an increase of almost 25 per cent. Lung and breast cancers are two of the most common cancers in Algeria, accounting for over a quarter of new cancer cases every year.
Editorial contact: Neil Madle, Varian Medical Systems, +44 7786 526068
About Varian Medical Systems
Varian Medical Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, California, is the world’s leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncology practices. Varian is a premier supplier of tubes, digital detectors, and image processing workstations for X-ray imaging in medical, scientific, and industrial applications and also supplies high-energy X-ray devices for cargo screening and non-destructive testing applications. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 6,200 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, and China and approximately 70 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com or follow us on Twitter.
SOURCE Varian Medical Systems