Radiation therapy uses high-energy radiation mainly to shrink tumours and kill cancer cells.
Last year, more than 3 500 radiation therapy machines were used by hospitals and providers of ambulatory health care in the European Union (EU). More than two-thirds of this equipment were located in France (670) and the United Kingdom (605).
This news item marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Marie Curie-Skłodowska.
Number of radiation therapy machines relative to the population highest in Belgium
Compared with the population of each Member State, five Member States had at least 1 radiation therapy machine per 100 000 inhabitants. These were Belgium (1.81), Denmark (1.37), Slovakia (1.24), Finland (1.04) and France (1.01).
At the opposite end of the spectrum, nine Member States had less than 0.5 radiation therapy machine per 100 000 inhabitants: Romania (0.37), Estonia (0.38), Latvia (0.40), Poland and Portugal (both 0.42), Hungary (0.46), Cyprus (0.47), Spain and Austria (both 0.49).
In 2014, cancer killed over 1.3 million people in the EU, and was responsible for more than 1 in 4 deaths.
The source dataset can be found here.
Please be aware that there are some differences in reporting between Member States.