STRENGTHENING MEDICAL IMAGING CAPACITY

improving health outcomes through imaging

BY THE LANCET ONCOLOGY COMMISSION ON MEDICAL IMAGING AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE, THE LANCET ONCOLOGY COMMISSION ON SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA AND THE LANCET ONCOLOGY COMMISSION ON RADIOTHERAPY AND THERANOSTICS

WHA Resolution

WHA RESOLUTION

© WHO / Pierre Albouy
© WHO / Pierre Albouy


May 2025 – Cancer and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are rising and disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), yet access to medical imaging remains severely limited. The proposed resolution seeks to address this gap by strengthening medical imaging capacity in all countries, leading to improved patient outcomes.

Imaging is essential across the cancer care continuum—from diagnosis to treatment planning and follow-up—as well as for radiotherapy, interventional radiology, and theranostics. It is also vital in managing injuries, other NCDs, and infectious diseases, including many of the world’s leading causes of mortality.
Ensuring equitable, sustainable access to medical imaging, including nuclear medicine, is imperative to improving health outcomes globally.

Following the adoption of the resolution by the WHO Executive Board on February 10, the Resolution is now on the WHA78 agenda for ratification.

The World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology (WFNMB) and the International Society of Radiology (ISR) have again coordinated a constituency statement in support of the proposed resolution. The full statement can be accessed here. We sincerely thank the following Non-State Actors in official relations with the WHO for their support:

  1. World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology (WFNMB)
  2. International Society of Radiology (ISR)
  3. Global Diagnostic Imaging Healthcare IT and Radiation Therapy Trade Association (DITTA)
  4. Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi)
  5. International Federation on Ageing (IFA)
  6. International Federation of Healthcare Engineering (IFHE)
  7. International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE)
  8. The International Federation of Surgical Colleges and Societies (IFSCS Ltd)
  9. International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP)
  10. International Society of Radiographers and Radiological Technologists (ISRRT)
  11. Humatem
  12. Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF)
  13. NCD Alliance
  14. The International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP)
  15. Thalassaemia International Federation (TIF)
  16. World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (WFUMB)

 

If adopted by the World Health Assembly 2025, the resolution is expected to have a major impact not only in low—and middle-income countries but also globally in addressing the rising burden of cancer and other non-communicable diseases.

The WHA sessions can be watched live on 19–27 May 2025 here:

https://www.who.int/about/governance/world-health-assembly/seventy-eighth

Recordings will be available on the above webpage.