{"entity":{"id":"idea-acc-pooled-procurement-radiotherapy","kind":"idea","name":"A Gavi-style pooled purchaser for radiotherapy equipment and service","aka":[],"tldr":"Countries buying radiotherapy machines one at a time pay high prices and get poor service. A single global buyer negotiating for dozens of machines a year could cut prices and demand long-term support.","summary":"Gavi and the Global Fund demonstrated that aggregated demand and multi-year volume guarantees lower prices, stabilise supply, and shape products. Radiotherapy has no equivalent: each ministry negotiates alone, with limited technical capacity, and often receives a machine without a bunker, staff, or service plan. A pooled purchaser (hosted, for instance, alongside the IAEA's Rays of Hope) would set standard specifications, bundle service and training, and publish prices.","asOf":"2026-09-08","links":[{"label":"IAEA Rays of Hope","url":"https://www.iaea.org/services/rays-of-hope"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":["radiation"],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":["varian","elekta"],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":["b-global-access","b-drug-pricing"],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"hypothesis":"Pooled procurement will reduce the delivered cost per treatment unit, including ten years of service, by at least 30% against the median bilateral price and shorten install-to-first-patient time to under twelve months.","rationale":"Aggregation works when the product is standardisable and demand is predictable; radiotherapy capital needs in LMICs are both, and the global vendor base is small enough for volume commitments to matter.","test":"Commission a market-shaping analysis and a first pooled tender for ten machines across three countries with published unit prices and installed-to-operational timelines compared with recent bilateral purchases.","maturity":"speculative","actor":"policy","cost":"large","horizonYears":5},"route":"/ideas/idea-acc-pooled-procurement-radiotherapy/","neighbours":{"section":[{"id":"radiation","kind":"section","name":"Radiation Therapy","route":"/fronts/radiation/"}],"company":[{"id":"elekta","kind":"company","name":"Elekta","route":"/companies/elekta/"},{"id":"varian","kind":"company","name":"Varian (Siemens Healthineers)","route":"/companies/varian/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-global-access","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Most of the world has almost no cancer care","route":"/bottlenecks/b-global-access/"},{"id":"b-drug-pricing","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Prices and value","route":"/bottlenecks/b-drug-pricing/"}],"roadmap":[{"id":"global-access-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"Global access and affordability roadmap: essential medicines and generics → biosimilars and frugal trials → reliance, pooling and homegrown innovation","route":"/roadmaps/global-access-roadmap/"},{"id":"radiation-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"Radiotherapy roadmap: X-rays → shaped beams → fewer fractions, particles and FLASH","route":"/roadmaps/radiation-roadmap/"}]}}