Morocco continues to support African capacity-building in the field of health care and remains ready to receive more candidates from member States for internships, fellowships, and medical clinical training, Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, Azzeddine Farhane, said on Wednesday.
Speaking at an event organized on the sidelines of the 68th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the Agency’s “Rays of Hope” initiative, Farhane recalled last year’s designation of the Rabat National Institute of Oncology (INO) as an IAEA anchor center, as part of the long-standing partnership between Morocco and the IAEA.
Even prior to the establishment of an anchor center in Rabat, INO had been designated since 2003 as a regional training center for the African Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training related to Nuclear Science and Technology (AFRA), he added, pointing out that the Institute has trained numerous doctors, radiotherapy technicians and medical physicists.
The diplomat also pointed out that since its launch, Morocco has supported the “Rays of Hope” initiative, subsequent to the two side-events chaired by IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi to mark World Cancer Day in 2021 and 2022.
Morocco, as president of the 64th session of the IAEA General Conference, hosted a high-level panel on cervical cancer in Africa, said Farhane, noting that subsequently a resolution was submitted by the G77 and adopted to support IAEA’s efforts in the fight against cancer.
The “Rays of Hope” initiative, which aims to mitigate the impact of cancer worldwide and in Africa in particular, is nowadays deemed successful and a high-impact IAEA flagship program.