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Casablanca — Swati Sharma, head of software at Elekta for Turkiye, India, the Middle East, and North Africa, believes that artificial intelligence and software are becoming critical tools for cancer care in regions where access to treatment remains uneven, particularly across Africa and other low and middle income countries.
Speaking during a DigiTalk podcast project by Morocco World News recorded at GITEX Future Health Africa Morocco 2026, Sharma said software can help reduce geographical barriers that often prevent patients from receiving timely care.
“It helps you break those geographical and language barriers,” she said during the interview.
Sharma, who is based in Delhi, traveled to Morocco with her team from India for what she described as her first GITEX experience. She said Morocco had surprised her during earlier visits because of the warmth of the people and the familiarity many Moroccans have with Indian culture and Bollywood films.
At the conference, Sharma delivered a keynote focused on how AI and software are transforming oncology and radiotherapy. She said the discussion drew a mixed audience of clinicians, biomedical students, startup founders, and healthcare professionals interested in health tech.
According to Sharma, many African countries are seeing cancer cases rise faster than healthcare systems can expand treatment capacity. She said software is increasingly being used to close part of that gap by connecting hospitals, specialists, and expertise across borders.
Research in the field reflects that shift. Adaptive radiotherapy, one of the technologies Sharma discussed during the interview, is being developed to adjust cancer treatment in real time according to changes in a patient’s anatomy and tumor response.
Elekta’s adaptive radiotherapy systems, including its Unity MR-Linac and Evo CT-Linac platforms, are designed to combine imaging and treatment delivery with AI-assisted workflows. The company says these systems aim to improve precision while reducing unnecessary radiation exposure to healthy tissue.
Sharma said adaptive radiotherapy is one of the technologies healthcare workers should pay close attention to because oncology is moving toward more personalized and targeted treatment.
“When you adapt your treatment protocols to your patient’s anatomy, you are in a way giving targeted treatment,” she said.
Studies published in recent years have shown growing interest in MRI-guided adaptive radiotherapy, particularly for difficult cancer cases where tumors move or change shape during treatment. Researchers say the technology may help improve treatment accuracy and reduce side effects.
Read also: Mamabox Brings AI-Powered Maternal Support at GITEX Future Health Africa 2026
During the interview, Sharma repeatedly returned to the issue of accessibility.
She recalled her early experience as a radiotherapy technologist in India, where one of the first cancer patients she treated was a 13-year-old girl from a remote Himalayan tribal area who had to travel long distances by helicopter to receive care. The patient later died after interruptions in treatment linked to complications and access difficulties.
“That is what we are trying to change,” Sharma said. “We have to be closer to the patients.”
She added that software allows expertise to move without forcing patients to travel. Hospitals and specialists in different countries can collaborate remotely, share treatment protocols, and support facilities with fewer trained professionals.
The shortage of oncology specialists remains a major issue globally. The World Health Organization has repeatedly warned about widening cancer care gaps in lower income countries, where access to radiotherapy, screening, and specialized doctors remains limited.
Sharma also pushed back against concerns that AI could replace healthcare workers. She described AI as a support tool rather than a substitute for doctors.
“It is not going to replace anyone,” she said. “It would actually take away those repetitive tasks so that you get more time with the patients.”
She said doctors in many developing healthcare systems spend large portions of their day dealing with administrative systems and computer work instead of patient interaction.
For Sharma, the broader goal remains improving patient outcomes regardless of whether the work comes from clinicians, engineers, or software teams.
“At the end of the day,” she said, “we have to have a better patient health plan.”
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