BRUSSELS – 10 May 2016 – The European Coordination Committee of the Radiological, Electromedical and Healthcare IT Industry (COCIR*) and the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO**) have announced an agreement to cooperate and collaborate on matters of common interest.
COCIR and ESTRO already share common goals; advancing the best and safe use of medical technology, particularly radiotherapy; appropriate implementation of new technology and accelerating patients access to technology for the improvement of health care.
Professor Yolande Lievens, ESTRO President, said; ”We look forward to working with COCIR in this spirit of enhanced collaboration, accumulating evidence-based information on the value of radiotherapy. It will also help increase awareness of the clinical, economical and societal benefits of radiation oncology among key stakeholders, including public authorities and institutions.”
Joost Leeflang, COCIR President added; “COCIR recognises ESTRO as the leading society representing radiation oncology, fostering and driving its role and the role of radiation oncology professionals in the multidisciplinary fight against cancer. COCIR members look forward to their collaboration with the ESTRO community in Europe and beyond. Together, in line with the vision of ESTRO, we can help ensure that every cancer patient can access state of the art radiation therapy, as part of a multidisciplinary approach with treatment individualised to the patient’s specific illness while taking account of the patient’s personal circumstances”.
The letter of intent was formalised at last week’s ESTRO 35 congress in Torino, which attracted over 5,000 delegates from more than 80 countries and the largest exhibition in Europe in the field, with 10.000 m2 of exhibition gathering the leading brand and industrial partners of radiation oncology. The event saw leading doctors, physicists, scientists and radiation therapists present the findings of new research in clinical radiation oncology, radiobiology, physics, technology, patient care, radiation therapy and brachytherapy, along with data on health services research in radiotherapy, that will benefit to cancer patients all over the world.
For more information, contact:
For COCIR:
Nicole Denjoy
COCIR Secretary General
Tel: +32 (0)2 706 8961
denjoy@cocir.org
Colin Mackay
COCIR Communications Senior Advisor
Tel: +32 (0) 473 43 07 52 press@cocir.org
For ESTRO:
Chiara Gasparotto
Director of Policy and Partnership
+32 (0) 2 775 93 34cgasparotto@estro.org
Cécile Hardon-Villard
Communications Manager
+32 (0) 2 775 93 46 chardon@estro.org