Cancer patients in Chattogram may soon no longer have to travel to Dhaka for PET-CT scans, as a modern facility is nearing completion at the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (Inmas), beside Chattogram Medical College Hospital.Officials expect the facility to become operational within the next two to two-and-a-half months.The absence of PET-CT services in Chattogram has long forced patients and their families to travel to Dhaka for the specialised test, adding transportation, accommodation and other costs to an already expensive treatment process.According to Chattogram Medical College Hospital sources, around four lakh cancer patients live in the Chattogram region, while roughly 120 cancer patients seek treatment at the hospital every day.Hospital Director Brig Gen Mohammad Taslim Uddin said a PET-CT scan currently costs between Tk 60,000 and Tk 70,000 at private facilities. The cost could be less than half once the test is introduced under the government system at the medical college hospital.The Inmas facility will also have a cyclotron, which will produce the radioisotopes required for PET-CT scans. Equipment has already arrived, while installation and other preparations are underway. Recruitment of necessary staff is also nearing completion.A PET-CT scan can help doctors identify the location of cancer, determine whether it has spread to other parts of the body and assess how effectively a patient is responding to treatment. It can also provide information on the metabolic activity of cancer cells.Inmas Chattogram Director Prof Dr Pabitra Kumar Bhattacharya said the installation work, including the cyclotron facility, is progressing. The service will begin once the equipment is installed and the remaining work is completed.The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission took up a project worth around Tk 106 crore in the 2019-20 fiscal year to establish the facility. The project includes a six-storey building, a molecular laboratory, a cyclotron and a PET-CT machine.
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