WRAD Regional Champions come Together to Turn Global Awareness into Local Action
- 11 hours ago
- 2 min read
World Radiotherapy Awareness Day held the first of two Regional Champion meetings, scheduled at different times to accommodate participants across multiple time zones. The meeting brought together advocates from across the global radiotherapy community to share ideas and begin planning for 7 September 2026.
The meeting marked an important step in building and supporting a strong network of Regional Champions who can help bring WRAD to life within their own countries and communities.
Building on WRAD’s first year
The meeting opened with a reflection on the impact of the inaugural World Radiotherapy Awareness Day in 2025. The campaign generated more than 350,000 social media interactions and website visits, reached 109 countries, involved 75 national societies and inspired 48 registered events.
These achievements demonstrated what is possible when the radiotherapy community speaks with One Voice for Radiotherapy. The Regional Champion network will now help WRAD build on this momentum by adapting the campaign’s global messages to reflect local needs, experiences and priorities.
Regional Champions can play a vital role in increasing the visibility of radiotherapy and the professionals who deliver it. They can also help ensure advocacy is culturally relevant, connect WRAD with patient and community organisations, and gather the stories and evidence needed to engage policymakers and funders.
From patient events to global advocacy
Regional Champions shared a range of ideas for bringing WRAD 2026 to life in their communities. These included patient-focused awareness events featuring patient and survivor stories, educational information about radiotherapy and opportunities to meet members of the multidisciplinary treatment team.
Other proposals included professional development events for radiotherapy professionals, policy and infrastructure roundtables and public advocacy campaigns highlighting equitable access to safe, high-quality radiotherapy and the important role of medical physicists in cancer care.
Champions also discussed community outreach, podcasts and short educational videos in local languages to address misconceptions, overcome cultural and language barriers and amplify the experiences of people in low- and middle-income countries.
Together, these ideas showed that there is no single way to participate in WRAD. Activities can be large or small, from international webinars and policy discussions to hospital displays, patient conversations, community events and social media posts.
WRAD Regional Champions working in partnership with patients
Patient partnership was central to the discussion. Regional Champions were encouraged to build relationships with patients, survivors and advocacy organisations and to involve them in developing resources about radiotherapy, treatment choices and patient rights.
By ensuring patients’ experiences are represented in campaigns and policy conversations, WRAD can help challenge misconceptions, reduce fear and give more people clear, accessible information about radiotherapy.
The meeting concluded with a call for Regional Champions to start planning their activities, explore the resources available through the WRAD website and continue sharing ideas with one another.
With Regional Champions connecting global ambitions to meaningful local action, WRAD 2026 has the potential to reach more communities, elevate more voices and build an even stronger worldwide movement for radiotherapy.
You can watch both Regional Champions meetings here:
Get involved in WRAD 2026
Download the official WRAD branding and campaign materials from our Resources page to support your activities and help spread the message.
Planning an activity for 7 September? Register it to the global WRAD events and show how your organisation or community is getting involved.
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