HYDERABAD, India, Nov. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Varian Medical
Systems (NYSE: VAR) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
to develop an educational partnership with Apollo Hospitals Group,
the largest hospital chain in India, to introduce a program that will help
train radiation technologists in the country. The MoU was signed by
Dr. K. Prabakar, chief executive
officer of Apollo Knowledge, and Ashok
Kakkar, Varian's India
managing director, in Hyderabad.
In the first radiotherapy partnership of its kind between
industry and a care provider in India, Varian intends to deploy its Access to
Care program by leveraging the existing Apollo Knowledge network
that comprises of several educational entities in the healthcare
space in India. Access to Care is
an educational program that seeks to bridge the gap between the
growing need for modern radiotherapy treatment machines in
developing countries and the lack of trained personnel to operate
them.
"The world is seeing an alarming increase in the cancer burden
and it is important that the healthcare industry stakeholders join
hands to ensure that we have the required number of skilled
clinicians," said Dr. Prabakar. "I am convinced that this
collaboration is the right step forward in this direction, bearing
in mind the respective strengths of Apollo and Varian."
"This program will not only enhance the skills and competencies
of the students but contribute towards addressing the lack of
skilled radiotherapy professionals in India," said Ashok
Kakkar. "By working closely with Apollo's highly-effective
educational arm, Apollo Knowledge, we believe we can start to make
a significant difference in this area."
The program aims to provide skilled training for radiation
therapists and medical physicists. Students will be trained using
web-based content from international universities and advanced
simulation tools that reproduce a complete radiotherapy center
clinical workflow. Training emphasises the acquisition of skills to
enhance the employability of the student as well as the quality and
safety of radiotherapy treatments.
Commenting on the collaboration, Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, chairman of Apollo group,
said, "It's important that skilled medical professionals find their
way into primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare across the
length and breadth of the country. Apollo Knowledge is glad to
collaborate with Varian to facilitate training of radiotherapy
professionals as a step towards offering timely yet advanced care
to cancer patients in India."
India is severely
under-equipped when it comes to radiotherapy treatment machines. A
country of more than one billion people is served by about 400
machines. More than two million new cancer cases are detected each
year in India. The Indian
government has made cancer care a key focus area and having a
well-skilled radiotherapy workforce is vital to the roll out of
more modern treatment equipment.
About Varian Medical Systems
Varian Medical Systems,
Inc., of Palo Alto, California,
focuses energy on saving lives by equipping the world with advanced
technology for fighting cancer and for x-ray imaging. The
company is the world's leading manufacturer of medical devices and
software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with
radiation. The company provides comprehensive solutions for
radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy and brachytherapy. The
company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive
cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncology
practices. Varian is also a premier supplier of x-ray imaging
components, including tubes, digital detectors, and image
processing software and workstations for use in medical,
scientific, and industrial settings, as well as for security and
non-destructive testing. Varian Medical Systems employs
approximately 7,000 people who are located at manufacturing sites
in North America, Europe, and China and approximately 70 sales and support
offices around the world. For more information,
visit www.varian.com or follow us on Twitter.
About Apollo Hospitals
In 1983, Dr. Prathap Reddy launched India's first corporate hospital - Apollo
Hospitals in Chennai. Over the
years Apollo Hospitals has established itself as home to the
largest cardiac practice in India
with over 160,000 cardiac surgeries. Apollo Hospitals is also the
world's largest private cancer care provider and runs the world's
leading solid organ transplant program having conducted over 1,500
solid organ transplants in 2014-15 alone. For more than 28 years,
the Apollo Hospitals Group has maintained leadership in medical
innovation, world-class clinical services and cutting-edge
technology. Apollo hospitals are consistently ranked amongst the
best hospitals globally for advanced medical services and
research.
Press Contact
Neil Madle
Varian Medical Systems
+44 7786 526068
neil.madle@varian.com
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SOURCE Varian Medical Systems