Kazakhstan to launch 5 new PET centers for early cancer detection
In the near future, five positron emission tomography (PET) centers are planned to be opened in the country, Kazinform News Agency quotes Yerbol Bekmukhambetov, Chairman of the Board of the Research Institute of Oncology and Radiology of Kazakhstan, as saying.
“A nationwide screening program is being implemented in order to enable early detection of cancer in Kazakhstan. One of the priority areas of high-tech diagnostics is the development of nuclear medicine. Currently, there are 10 nuclear medicine centers operating in the country, equipped with 14 PET/CT scanners, 4 cyclotron production complexes, and 7 single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scanners. In the coming years, with the help of private investment, we plan to open five more PET/CT centers and equip one more center with a SPECT scanner,” he said at a briefing at the Central Communications Service.
He noted that efforts are currently underway to amend the regulatory framework, enabling the use of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals based on lutetium and samarium in outpatient care.
"Considering the current demand of more than 250 patients annually, isolated therapy helps significantly cut costs and improves access to advanced treatment technologies," the head of the institute noted.
As reported earlier, Kazakhstan-China healthy nutrition research center has opened at the Al Farabi Kazakh National University’s medical pants research center in Kazakhstan.
