IAEA, OPEC Fund Bolster Nuclear Science Collaboration

The IAEA and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund) have formally agreed to strengthen joint efforts to tackle the world's growing health, food, energy and climate development challenges with nuclear science and technology under a new Practical Arrangement (PA). The PA will focus on the key IAEA initiatives to improve cancer care through Rays of Hope: Cancer Care for All; use nuclear science to boost agriculture through Atoms4Food; and to cooperate in areas related to water scarcity, environmental monitoring and energy planning.

Speaking at the OPEC Fund Development Forum on 25 June on the role of nuclear technology in combating disease, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi highlighted the need for action to combat the growing global cancer burden. It is estimated that by 2030, 70 per cent of cancer deaths will occur in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) however, at present, these countries only represent 5 per cent of global spending in this area.

"Around 80 per cent of the African population does not have access to radiotherapy at all," said Mr Grossi.

The IAEA's Rays of Hope: Cancer Care for All initiative supports countries, especially LMICs, to establish, or expand, their radiation medicine capabilities. These include medical imaging, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy. The initiative builds on the IAEA's six decades of experience in this field.

"I invite you to see the IAEA in this ecosystem of financial institutions and technical institutions, as your technical instrument," Mr Grossi told the OPEC Fund audience.

"What we are doing is providing the science behind all of these projects. We are the ones developing the methodologies, we are the ones training the technicians … the medical oncologists, the radiotherapists, in different parts of the world… It's a huge area where the IAEA is bringing its expertise to work together in a very effective way.

"Thanks to this partnership with the OPEC fund, we hope to be working in a scope commensurate with the dramatic needs we are facing."

Together with the OPEC Fund, the IAEA is in the process of finalizing a plan to support around a dozen countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and in Latin America and the Caribbean regions. Under the plan, countries in these regions will be provided with capacity to sustainably improve their medical health infrastructure under the Rays of Hope initiative.

The OPEC Fund, in collaboration with the IAEA, has significantly supported Malawi in starting construction work on radiotherapy and brachytherapy bunkers, work expected to be completed by the end of June 2024. This project also includes the delivery of cancer care equipment and ongoing training of medical professionals under the IAEA Rays of Hope initiative.

Mr Grossi also spoke of the role of nuclear technology in enhancing food safety and addressing water scarcity around the world. "With nuclear techniques you can develop crops which are drought resistant, that are resistant to pesticides, that require less fertilizer … through isotope hydrology, which is a nuclear technique, we can determine the soil fertility and the amount of water we might need," he said.

"We are so happy to be partnering with the OPEC Fund because the development needs are so huge. This is why we decide to work together."

A High-Level Energy and Food Security Investment Roundtable on Sierra Leone was also held on the margins of the OPEC Fund Development Forum on 24 June, titled "Partnering to Accelerate and Unlock Green Investment Opportunities". High-level representatives from the international development community, alongside the IAEA, emphasized the need to join efforts to support Sierra Leone in accelerating investment opportunities to address the country's challenges of energy access and food security. At the event, Mr Grossi underscored the crucial role the IAEA can play under its Rays of Hope and Atoms4Food initiatives, highlighting the importance of collaborative efforts to drive sustainable development and improve living conditions in Sierra Leone. DG Grossi also met with Sierra Leone's President, Julius Maada Wonie Bio, and explained how nuclear science and technology can contribute to Sierra Leone's development in the areas of energy, food safety and security and better cancer care.

DG Grossi also expressed the IAEA's readiness to support Sierra Leone in creating a legal framework and strengthening capacity building in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology.