While Israel’s cancer treatment infrastructure includes cutting-edge biological and immunotherapies, the rising volume of patients, both newly diagnosed and long-term survivors, has overwhelmed existing resources.
Data collected by the Health Ministry shows that around 30,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year, while many others live with chronic cancer or require continuous monitoring. As the patient load increases, the ratio of medical personnel to patients has steadily fallen.
In late 2024, the Health Ministry convened a committee to assess the state of oncology and radiotherapy services.
The resulting report, recently presented to the ministry’s director-general, offers a sweeping review of the national system. It outlines structural gaps, offers a multi-year reform plan, and introduces the first integrated framework that combines long-term planning with operational needs on the ground.
Treatment gaps widen between central Israel, periphery
Currently, there are 24 oncology institutes across Israel. However, the range and level of care differ dramatically.
Access to specialists, advanced equipment, and adequate infrastructure is especially lacking in the periphery.
In southern Israel, about one-third of patients are forced to travel outside their district for treatment. Nationally, 21% of patients receive care away from their residence. Some 60% of drug-based cancer treatments are administered at just four hospitals, most in the Tel Aviv area, creating bottlenecks in central facilities and underutilization elsewhere.
Some institutes are functioning beyond capacity, with long wait times, fatigued staff, and fragmented patient care. Peripheral centers often lack core staff, essential equipment, and the multidisciplinary teams that define modern oncology.
A major concern raised by the report is the ongoing shortage of personnel. There are too few oncologists, radiation therapy specialists, and oncology nurses. Similar gaps affect key support roles: physiotherapists, dietitians, social workers, occupational therapists, and medical physicists. Additional shortages include physician assistants, care coordinators, and medical secretaries—positions vital to reducing the bureaucratic burden on physicians.
Survivorship care also lacks structure. Cancer survivors often need long-term follow-up, mental health services, pain management, rehabilitation, and nutrition guidance. However, Israel has no regulated national survivorship system, resulting in inconsistent and partial care.
Radiation therapy services are unevenly distributed and, in some cases, technologically outdated. Several radiation machines are showing signs of wear, and infrastructure upgrades are overdue. The committee advises strengthening existing institutes before approving new ones and proposes allowing some satellite units to operate independently in underserved areas.
The committee’s proposals include establishing unified standards for defining oncology units, full institutes, and comprehensive centers—each including radiation therapy, research, palliative care, and emergency services. It also urges the creation of a national survivorship framework that connects hospitals with community-based services.
But the committee makes clear: implementation depends on a major increase in both budget and staffing. It recommends forming a permanent Health Ministry oversight body to guide the long-term rollout of reforms.
Officials say that while Israel’s oncology system remains cutting-edge and effective, it is approaching a breaking point. Without expanded manpower, infrastructure upgrades, and a survivorship strategy, the growing demands risk outpacing the system’s ability to deliver.