South Africans Celebrate Arrival of Second PET-CT Scanner
South African health officials are hoping the installation a new Positron Emission Tomography – Computed Tomography (PET-CT) scanner will help them reduce cancer deaths in their country.
While PET-CT imaging devices are commonly used to diagnose cancer in US hospitals, this is only the second one available to patients in South Africa’s public hospitals.
Mr Brian Hlongwa, a representative from the Gauteng Health Department, presided at the machine’s unveiling ceremony where he spoke about the importance of early cancer detection. Cervical cancer alone kills more than 3,000 women in South Africa — often because the disease is not diagnosed until it’s in the advanced stages.
Mr Hlongwa added that the scanner will help bring local care in line with International Cancer Accreditation Standards. As he stated,
“Here is something to be proud of and let us use these resources wisely to help our people enjoy better life.”
Mr Brian Hlongwa
Provincial Health MEC, Gauteng Health Department
The newest PET-CT, which was launched at Pretoria Academic Hospital, will also serve Dr George Mukhari Hospital and the Kalafong Hospital as well as other treatment facilities in the region.
If you’d like to learn more about the cancer rates outside the United States, you can read a report published by the World Health Organization on April 1, 2008.
Source: allAfrica.com
Related Links: Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA); Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontieres
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Technorati Tags: international oncology; global health; cancer screening; radiology; x-rays
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JUST FOR CORRECTNESS .THERE ARE MORE THAN 5 PET CT SCANNERS IN SOUTH AFRICA,INCLUDING MY MACINE AT MORNINGSIDE MEDICLINIC SANDTON WHICH HAS BEEN INSTALLED SINCE AUGUST 2006
Thank you for the additional information, Dr Posner. That’s great news for the cancer patients and health professionals in South Africa.