{
  "abstract": "Radiotherapy (or radiation therapy) should be part of treatment for around 50% of adults with cancer1 and 30% of children.2 Lack of awareness and knowledge about radiotherapy among many healthcare providers, patients and the general community leads to many patients missing out on this life-saving treatment. Additionally, barriers to funding, workforce education and referral pathways negatively impact radiotherapy utilisation and cancer outcomes.3",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Clinical Oncology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Katie Wakeham"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Applied Radiation Therapy, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland"
      ],
      "name": "Michelle Leech"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Radiation Oncology, Western Sydney Local Health District, Wentworthville, New South Wales, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Lucinda Morris"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "American Society for Radiation Oncology, Arlington, Virginia, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Jeff White"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Radiation Oncology, Western Sydney Local Health District, Wentworthville, New South Wales, Australia",
        "The University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia"
      ],
      "name": "Sandra Turner"
    }
  ],
  "full_text": "Radiotherapy (or radiation therapy) should be part of treatment for around 50% of adults with cancer1 and 30% of children.2 Lack of awareness and knowledge about radiotherapy among many healthcare providers, patients and the general community leads to many patients missing out on this life-saving treatment. Additionally, barriers to funding, workforce education and referral pathways negatively impact radiotherapy utilisation and cancer outcomes.3In many high-income countries, the estimated actual radiotherapy utilisation rate is less than optimal, for instance, only 37% in the UK4 and 29–35% in Australia.5 Low- and middle-income regions have even more serious radiotherapy access problems, declining to rates of zero in nearly 20 African countries with no radiotherapy services at all.6The goal of World Radiotherapy Awareness Day (WRAD) is to raise awareness about radiotherapy as a vital cancer treatment. The day highlights the global need for radiotherapy as well as barriers to its access around the world. WRAD also serves as a stimulus to educate health professionals, policy makers, patients and caregivers about the critical role that radiotherapy plays in curing cancer and improving quality of life. Having well-trained (and sufficient) radiotherapy professionals (including physicists and therapists) is key. WRAD aims to improve recognition of all these professions. Many groups are already working in their own regions around advocacy for radiotherapy. WRAD will amplify these voices and the impact of advocacy efforts by connecting groups and individuals around the globe and inspiring others to get involved. Hence, the inaugural theme for WRAD 2025–2027: ‘One Voice for Radiotherapy’.In proposing a new ‘world day’, we were asked about the evidence for the impact of awareness days and for this editorial, to reflect on the available literature. It would be naïve to imagine that an annual day will solve the multifactorial problems that lead to serious underuse of an effective cancer treatment. However, there is some academic support for our approach.The value of health-related awareness days/weeks/months has been debated in the literature. Most research into the effectiveness of such events correlates these with personal health-related behaviours, for example, making healthy lifestyle choices. A systematic review of published evidence around health awareness campaigns7 concluded that although there was undoubtedly increased online activity during these periods, there was little proof of improved health behaviours or outcomes.However, much of the available research is not that relevant to the radiotherapy situation where ‘consumer’ behavioural change is not the core goal of awareness-raising activities. On a global scale, the problem of community misunderstandings about radiotherapy (though unhelpful) is eclipsed manyfold by other barriers to access. One major audience for the WRAD campaign is healthcare organisations, who often need help in cutting through the ‘noise’ of competing health problems to ensure radiotherapy is prioritised in their regions. In turn, governments and policy makers can be provided with evidence, impetus and actions to address the crisis.An analysis by Purtle and Roman looking at US awareness days concluded, “Health awareness campaigns have the potential to increase knowledge about the root causes of public health problems and foster a social and political environment that supports changes at the policy level.”8 Lack of access to high-quality, modern radiotherapy is one of the most significant public health problems plaguing our populations worldwide and destined to worsen.How will we know WRAD is shifting the dial? Given the difficulty in linking radiotherapy utilisation rates directly to WRAD activity, key performance indicators have been defined and prospectively recorded. These include WRAD website traffic and search analytics, social/traditional media reach, numbers and geographical spread of registered WRAD events and formal engagement with professional, sponsor and non-governmental organisations. Crucially, partnerships with patient/survivor groups will likely be an impactful strategy and a high priority for 2026.To date, >70 organisations have officially partnered with WRAD. Since the website launch in July 2025, traffic has totalled >9000 unique visits from 109 countries.9 Around the inaugural WRAD on 7 September 2025 (the day the first patient was treated on a dedicated clinical linear accelerator), 48 registered events were held around the world, and WRAD was featured in 51 media/television stories, journal/newsletter articles, podcasts and videos. Similarly, WRAD social media platforms recorded >330 000 impressions, with an enormous spike on the day.We are asking all cancer and other health professionals and bodies to support WRAD, especially around 7 September. Specifically, we want individuals and groups to visit our website, officially partner with WRAD, follow our socials and share our posts. Look at creating an event (large or small) for WRAD in 2026 and register your plans with us—you will find many ideas and resources on our site. Together, with ‘One Voice for Radiotherapy’ we can all contribute to improving the care of people with cancer through ensuring timely access to radiotherapy.",
  "title": "World Radiotherapy Awareness Day: how we can make a difference",
  "uid": "d1e60504-bedc-5a22-9801-f190c9dea3e5"
}