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BOLIVIA / CANCER
STORY: BOLIVIA / CANCER
TRT: 2.49
SOURCE: IAEA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / SPANISH / NATS
DATELINE: 27 MARCH 2009, LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
27 MARCH 2009, LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
1. Wide shot, La Paz cityscape
2. Wide shot, General Hospital facade
3. Various shots, people at the hospital
4. Wide shot, Mohammed ElBaradei visiting the hospital
5. Med shot, sign reading “Oncology and Radiotherapy Unit”
6. Wide shot, Eulogia Canaviri walking along corridor in a robe, followed by a medical doctor
7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Eulogia Canaviri, Aymara woman with cancer of the uterus:
“I am getting better, but I still have problems with my back, only now I am starting the radiotherapy.”
8. Wide shot, Canaviri approaching the table where she will undergo radiotherapy
9. Wide shot, female doctor helping Canaviri to stretch on the radiotherapy table
10. Close up, Canaviri’s head with a strap that holds it to the radiotherapy table
11. Med shot, Canaviri being placed under radiation source
12. Various shots, ElBaradei in room next door from which he observes the radiotherapy session Eulogia Mamani is undergoing
13. Med shot, sign on building reading “National Institute of Nuclear Medicine”
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed ElBaradei, IAEA Director General:
“Particularly in a country like Bolivia, where there is an increase in cancer patients, we are putting a lot of effort to provide the country with the necessary tools to make sure that they have early diagnosis and proper treatment for them to be saving lives.”
15. Wide shot, ElBaradei leaving restricted area and walking past patient in wheelchair
16. Med shot, medical doctor working on a PC
17. Various shots, ElBaradei visiting several hospital facilities
18. Wide shot, ElBaradei walking in hospital’s courtyard guided by the medical doctors of the center and by his entourage
19. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Juan Antonio Casa-Zamora, Director for Latin America, IAEA Technical Corporation:
“In the case of Bolivia, the IAEA has invested in direct cooperation and in the development of nuclear medicine techniques like radiotherapy approximately three million dollars in the past 30 years. This has enabled the training of approximately forty health professionals in different areas. We have contributed to the establishment of a national nuclear medicine network.”
20. Various shots, ElBaradei listening to explanations from the medical doctors in a room where a patient is being treated
21. Various shots, Aymara woman at the oncology unit
22. Wide shot, Plaza Murillo where the executive and legislative bodies are located
23. Various shots, Aymara woman feeding pigeons next to her son while a girl takes a picture of them
24. Wide shot, Plaza Murillo
On a two-week visit to Latin America, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei visited the oncology ward at the General Hospital in La Paz, Bolivia.
Cancer is a major cause of death in Latin American countries. Eulogia Canaviri is a patient here who suffers from cancer of the uterus.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Eulogia Canaviri, Aymara woman with cancer of the uterus:
“I am getting better, but I still have problems with my back, only now I am starting the radiotherapy.”
But Canaviri says it would be good if there were more radiotherapy units.
The IAEA draws on its expertise in radiation medicine to help low-income countries introduce or expand radiotherapy capacity within the context of national cancer control programs.
In Bolivia cancer killed approximately 14,000 people in 2005, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). For women, cervical cancer is the most common cancer in the country.
Director-General ElBaradei says the IAEA’s work to help Bolivia combat cancer is part of the agency’s global approach to develop comprehensive cancer control “all the way” from prevention and diagnosis to treatment and palliative measures.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed ElBaradei, IAEA Director General:
“Particularly in a country like Bolivia, where there is an increase in cancer patients, we are putting a lot of effort to provide the country with the necessary tools to make sure that they have early diagnosis and proper treatment for them to be saving lives.”
In the field of radiotherapy, the IAEA has donated or co-funded equipment with the Bolivian government, such as cobalt radiotherapy and other equipment needed for high quality cancer treatment and care in Bolivia’s four main cities.
The IAEA is urging a vigorous, collaborative approach towards fighting the disease in poorer countries, which are least able to cope with the worsening cancer crisis.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Juan Antonio Casa-Zamora, Director for Latin America, IAEA Technical Corporation:
“In the case of Bolivia, the IAEA has invested in direct cooperation and in the development of nuclear medicine techniques like radiotherapy approximately three million dollars in the past 30 years. This has enabled the training of approximately forty health professionals in different areas. We have contributed to the establishment of a national nuclear medicine network.”
Limited resources and health systems in developing countries are often over-burdened by communicable diseases, meaning that many cancer patients have little or no access to proper diagnosis and treatment.
At the same time, as people in poorer countries are living longer and adopting western lifestyles including more tobacco use and high-fat diets, cancer numbers are increasing dramatically.
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