Guatemala is setting new priorities for cancer control following a thorough review of its cancer care capacities and needs during an imPACT Review mission to the country. A team of nine international experts appointed by the IAEA, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) was on the ground in June 2024 to evaluate progress since the previous imPACT Review in 2010. The team also provided tailored and updated recommendations to the Ministry of Health on priority actions for cancer control.
"The recent imPACT Review mission was an opportunity to thoroughly review and assess the quality of all cancer prevention and control services in the country," said Silvia Palma, focal point for the imPACT Review at the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare of Guatemala. "By setting priorities for human resource capacity building, strengthening the cancer registry and financing palliative care, Guatemala is taking a targeted, evidence-driven approach for more impactful cancer control," she added.
Close to 18 000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year in Guatemala, with numbers expected to substantially increase by 2045 (Globocan 2022). For women, cancers of the breast and cervix account for 40 per cent of all newly diagnosed cases. For this reason, prevention and early detection of these types of cancer in were high on the agenda during the visit.
The imPACT Review team presenting preliminary findings and key recommendations to senior officials from the Ministry of Health at the end of the on-site visit to Guatemala. (Image: M.Nobile/ IAEA)
The imPACT Review team concluded the visit by debriefing the Ministry of Health with their findings. During closing remarks, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/WHO Representative Lilian Reneau said "we will carefully consider the findings and recommendations from the imPACT Review and look forward to further strengthening our cooperation agenda with Guatemala." Through its Cervical Cancer Elimination Initiative, the World Health Organization is "committed to helping Guatemala intensify efforts to prevent, screen and treat cervical cancer," Reneau said. Childhood cancer was another focus of the imPACT Review, considering that approximately half of children diagnosed with cancer in Guatemala are estimated to die of the disease (Globocan 2022). In June 2021, Guatemala became a focal country for the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer - an initiative which aims to strengthen the legal and institutional framework to improve paediatric cancer care. Its goal is to increase the survival rate of children with cancer globally to at least 60 per cent.
During the mission, 23 public and private health facilities offering cancer services in Guatemala City, Cuilapa, Quetzaltenango and Totonicapán were visited by the team in order to validate preliminary data collected during the virtual phase of the imPACT Review. In parallel to the hospital visits, some international experts met leading authorities and stakeholders to discuss cancer control planning and governance, prevention and early detection, palliative care and the role of civil society. Other topics of discussion included the implementation of public radiotherapy facilities, education and training opportunities, as well as national radiation safety regulatory infrastructure, and the security of radioactive materials for medical use.
The international experts team together with the Ministry of Health and PAHO technical officer discussing Hospital Roosevelt cancer care services with hospital management. (Image: M.Nobile/ IAEA)
The imPACT Review mission to Guatemala was an excellent opportunity for the three participating organizations to engage with policy makers and programme managers and to highlight the urgent national need to address cancer control gaps. "The strong engagement of the counterparts and the authorities demonstrated a clear interest of the country to cooperate with the IAEA for the safe, peaceful and secure application of nuclear science and technology. In addition, the strong cooperation with WHO was key to ensure collective efforts in the implementation of priority activities in cancer control," said Lisa Stevens, Director of the IAEA's Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy.
ImPACT review missions are one of the main channels through which the IAEA provides guidance to countries on expanding access to all levels of the cancer control continuum. The missions also guide Rays of Hope interventions and the development of technical cooperation projects in a country, said Karla Molina Diaz, Project Management Officer for Guatemala: "The priority recommendations that will be provided to the Ministry of Health as part of this review will be used to inform the next generation of cancer-related projects under preparation for the next technical cooperation (TC) programme cycle," she explained. TC cycles are two-year frameworks for support and guidance provided to countries through the IAEA's technical cooperation programme.
