Background and Context: The IAEA/PACT Programme worked with multiple countries to use radiation therapy as a cornerstone of Comprehensive Cancer Control (CCC). Each of the countries in this analysis began at different points in their CCC efforts. The political and economic climate in each area was different, and largely determined the usefulness of the PACT efforts.
Aim: To assess the Progress in the Development of CCC in three LMIC countries in Asia, each of which had different contextual issues and sustainability options.
Strategy/Tactics: Countries were visited multiple times, and data were collected and assessed to determine the impact of the PACT Programme. The context of each country's population distribution, the size of the country, and the form of government were considered in the interpretation the success of the interventions.
Programme/Policy Process: Once the IAEA realized that nuclear medicine and radiation therapy would not solve the growing problem of cancer, an effort was made to use those modalities as a center point of a more organized comprehensive cancer control program, covering the entire continuum of cancer control.
Outcomes/What was learned: Sri Lanka, the smallest geographic area of the three countries, had the best success through a governmental commitment to the process. However, this came after the civil war had ended. Vietnam has better success in the North, where there is more centralized governmental dominance with regard to cancer programs and services.in the South, there are more commercialized cancer facilities, which actually detracts from the ability of the PACT effort of providing a continnum of CCC. Mongolia's population is almost all in Ulaanbaatar, so services can be more centralized and coordinated.