[The state of radiotherapy in 1996 Hungary and principles of its development]

Although the number of radiation treatments (external) fields and brachytherapeutic insertions) increased substantially, by 9% of a year, in Hungary in 1994 and 1995, about half of the patients who needed radiotherapy did not receive this form of treatment. The regionalization of radiotherapeutic care resulted in the establishment of 12 centres, with considerable discrepancies in infrastructural and staff conditions, characterized by presence of Western European conditions in 1 institution or by close to them in 3 institutions, but by lack of the required infrastructure or personnel in two-thirds (8) of the centres. To reach the minimum recommended infrastructural level, Hungarian radiotherapeutic care requires the following items for the 12 centres: 4 radioprotected treatment rooms, 8 linear accelerators of dual energy, 4 low-monoenergetic linacs/telecobalt units, 5 after-loading set-ups, 6 simulators, 6 CT-based treatment planning systems and 6 automatic water phantoms. With respect to the present workload, the number of personnel in the different groups is low; the situation is especially problematic in newly organized or reconstructed centres. Furthermore, provision of radiation treatment to all cancer patients who need it, requires development at every level of the staff. Increases in the infrastructural and staff conditions of the currently existing radiotherapeutical centres should be the actual goal, and not the foundation of new centres. The most important aspects of the priority in the development of the infrastructure are the following: higher number of adequately trained staff, academic obligations (universities), change of the amortized facilities and supplementation of the currently empty radioprotected rooms with equipment.