Varian Extending Advanced Cancer Care in Turkey

Cancer patients in Turkey will gain access to advanced radiotherapy treatments with news that Varian Medical Systems has been selected to supply multiple treatment machines to public and private hospitals in the country. To date this year, Varian has booked orders for more than 20 medical linear accelerators from Turkish hospitals. The new systems will be delivered over the next 18 months.
 
In March, Varian was selected to equip hospitals in the cities of Mersin and Ankara with multiple modern Varian linear accelerators, including two TrueBeam systems and the country’s first VitalBeam device. These machines are for sites that are the first radiotherapy schemes within the Integrated Healthcare Campus Project tendered by the Turkish ministry of health under a PPP (Public Private Partnership) program and will be supplied to the main contractor, DIA Holding.
 
“We have selected Varian radiotherapy systems for our Mersin and Ankara Bilkent integrated health campus projects because of their operational capability, clinical excellence and versatility,” said Murad Bayar, of DIA Holding. “Due to the complexity and size of these campus projects, which are among healthcare PPP initiatives in Turkey, we wanted to work with the best.”
 
Tolgay Kurt, general manager of Varinak, Varian’s distributor in Turkey, said, “We believe modernization projects such as this represent the future of healthcare in Turkey and we are pleased to play our part by supplying advanced treatment systems that offer precise, affordable and efficient cancer care for Turkish patients.”
 
This follows an order earlier in the fiscal year when the Turkish Ministry of Health ordered 14 Varian linear accelerators to equip public radiotherapy centers across Turkey, both modernizing and expanding the current installed base of treatment machines. Varian’s Clinac iX and Trilogy systems will be installed in public hospitals across Turkey. “The Turkish government has made a real commitment to invest in modern radiotherapy systems and we are pleased that they have selected Varian systems to help treat the country’s growing cancer population,” said Jiri Bocanek, Varian’s area sales manager.
 
Varian has also been selected recently to supply two TrueBeam systems to Losante Hospital in Ankara and a Trilogy system to Ataturk University Hospital in Erzurum.
 
Designed to treat a moving tumor with speed and accuracy, Varian’s TrueBeam system incorporates numerous technical innovations that dynamically synchronize imaging, patient positioning, motion management, and treatment delivery during a radiotherapy or radiosurgery procedure. VitalBeam is a cost-effective technology package for offering high-quality, high-throughput radiation therapy, which enables customers to expand clinical capabilities over time.
 
There are more than 175,000 new cancer cases diagnosed each year in Turkey. With a population of 79 million people, the country is currently served by about 240 radiotherapy and radiosurgery treatment systems.