Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) is in process of establishing four more cancer hospitals in the country to ensure treatment to patients through modern technique and methods.
These four facilities are in the final stages of completion and expected to start functioning at full capacity by the end of this month. According to an official source on Wednesday, three of the facilities are being constructed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while one in Sindh province where out-patient departments have started working.
He said presently the Commission is operating 14 modern cancer hospitals while it was playing a vital role in the health sector by using nuclear and other advanced techniques, for diagnosis and treatment of cancerous and allied diseases, as well as national cancer awareness and prevention programmes. The official said these hospitals are manned with skilled teams of more than 2,000 professionals and supportive staff. He said these hospitals bring facilities for early diagnosis and treatment of cancer within the reach of a very large proportion of the population of the country.
The major services, the official said, provided at these hospitals are diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine, hormonal assays, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, indoor/wards facilities, breast care clinics, biochemistry, ultrasonography, colour doppler, diagnostic radiology, histopathology, hematology, molecular based diagnostics and cancer prevention and awareness programmes.
He said these hospitals have provided treatment to about 527,633 patients during last nine months. The official said addition of latest and advanced diagnostic and therapeutic facilities on par with international standards is also underway at PAEC Cancer Hospital Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology (INMOL), Lahore. He said PAEC Cancer Registry Programme (PCRP) is also now in completion phase and is expected to be completed in August this year.
