BRUSSELS - 4 February 2016 - Today is World Cancer Day 2016 and DITTA is taking this opportunity to raise awareness about the new and efficient clinical processes that medical technologies are enabling for the benefit of citizens and cancer patients across the globe in the collective fight against cancer. Product and services delivered by DITTA industries provide innovative, advanced and effective solutions across the entire care cycle for the prevention, screening, early diagnosis, treatment, palliative care and monitoring of various cancers. Over recent decades, the medical imaging industry has been instrumental in constantly innovating and developing advances in non-invasive technologies providing key tools that enable early prevention and screening and support early detection and diagnosis, which in turn impact on clinical outcomes and contribute to saving lives. The role of medical imaging in driving precision medicine, targeting the right patient with the right therapy at the right time, is also of paramount importance. Health ICT provides an infrastructure and other applications supporting the complete care cycle, allowing for more efficient clinical workflow and offering decision support tools to facilitate the work of multidisciplinary care teams. Finally, advances in radiotherapy now enable clinicians to cure localized disease, palliate symptoms, and control disease in incurable cancers, thereby contributing to improved patient outcomes and minimizing side effects in a cost-effective way. In an era of personalized medicine, radiotherapy beams may be shaped and modulated to conform to the exact shape of tumors, thereby optimizing the delivery of the prescribed dose to each part of the tumor while sparing normal tissues. Nicole Denjoy, DITTA Vice Chair, says: "Considering that the campaign focus this year is 'We can. I can.', DITTA strongly supports the need for everyone to access effective, qualitative and affordable cancer care, benefiting from promising innovative technologies. DITTA is convinced that efforts to advance cancer research, diagnosis and targeted therapy should be increased, and has been striving to shape policy changes necessary to accelerate increased survival rates and improvements in cancer patient outcomes." Nicole Denjoy added "More than 40% of cancer deaths could be prevented by using medical technologies smartly. Early and accurate diagnosis of cancer is essential in delivering better outcomes for patients. It is vital that patients have timely and affordable access to appropriate diagnostic tests, screening, and treatment technologies". For more information, contact: Nicole Denjoy DITTA Vice-Chair Tel: +32 (0)2 706 8961 denjoy@cocir.org Kathryn Sheridan COCIR Communications Advisor Tel: +32 (0)496 116198 press@cocir.org