Croatia is expected to get the first batch of a total of 23 linear particle accelerators for cancer treatment in 2023 under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), and the rest of the procured machines is due to arrive in the country in 2024, the health ministry has said.

The 23 linear accelerators will be dispatched to these hospitals: the KBC hospitals in Zagreb, Sestre milosrdnice Zagreb, the KBC hospitals in Split, Rijeka and Osijek and to the KB Dubrava in Zagreb and Zadar’s general hospital.

A sum of €97 million will be invested in the networking of radiotherapy equipment into a national network to ensure a comprehensive database on radiotherapy resources for patient treatment.

The public procurement process should kick off this year.

The provision of 23 linear particle accelerators will enable Croatia to reach the EU average of five accelerators per one million inhabitants.

This target is also highlighted in the country’s strategic framework for cancer treatment, which was adopted to streamline the treatment of oncology patients in Croatia.

Some of the new accelerators will replace the old machines.

An estimated 25,000 citizens in Croatia are annually diagnosed with malignant diseases, and about 13,500 cancer patients die annually.

Most prevalent cancers in male adults are prostate, lung, colon and rectal tumours, and women are most frequently diagnosed with breast, lung, colon and ovarian tumours.