Holy See Urges More Cancer Therapy in Poor Nations

(September 23, 2010) The Holy See is exhorting the international community to use nuclear energy for peace and development, rather than war and destruction. This was affirmed in an address delivered Tuesday in Vienna by Monsignor Ettore Balestrero, Vatican undersecretary for relations with states, at the 54th general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The five-day conference began Monday. The Vatican delegate affirmed that the International Atomic Energy Agency remains an irreplaceable point of reference for international cooperation in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and for integral human development. Monsignor Balestrero stated these peaceful applications of nuclear techniques can in many ways make a significant contribution to responding to the most urgent concerns, for example, the management of drinking-water supplies, the production of crops which give an improved yield or have a greater salt tolerance in arid climates, the eradication of disease-bearing and otherwise harmful pests in an environmentally beneficial manner. Among other things, they can be effectively used in the study of child malnutrition and in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, he said. Radiation therapy is one of the fundamental treatments of cancer, and more than 50% of the patients diagnosed with this disease would benefit from that kind of therapy. But in the developing world, more than half of the number of patients suffering from cancer will not have access to radiotherapy. He called for nuclear-weapon-free zones to build trust, confidence and affirmation that peace and security are possible without possessing nuclear weapons.