Staff Reporter Karachi
Chairman Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, Muhammad Naeem (HI, SI) on Monday inaugurated the newly installed cancer treatment facility of COBALT-60 Teletherapy Unit at Atomic Energy Medical Center (AEMC) Karachi.
He was the chief guest at the inauguration ceremony at Atomic Energy Cancer Hospital (AECH) AEMC. In his address, Muhammad Naeem said, “It’s a moment of great pleasure for me that I am here today to inaugurate the newly established Cobalt-60 Teletherapy Unit at AEMC. It’s also an honor for me to meet Mr. Mushtaq Chapra and I would like to thank him for the generous support of Patient Aid Foundationfor the construction of Cobalt-60 bunker. I also thank the Government of Sindh for granting the equipment for this facility. I am sure that this would go a long way to provide healthcare services to the cancer patients.”
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission is committed to the socio-economic development of the country. We are dedicatedly and proudly serving the Nation in several sectors including Health, Agriculture and Power generation, Muhammad Naeem added.
Our agriculture scientists are playing valuable role in efforts for the food security of the country. “We have developed 125 crop varieties and are helping farmers in the utilization of salt affected lands, improve irrigation techniques, reduce the loss of production to pests and diseases,” Chairman PAEC further said.
Regarding contribution of PAEC in power generation, Muhammad Naeem said, “We have a growing number of nuclear power plants to provide clean source of power to the national grid. Four power reactors in Chashma and one in Karachi with total capacity of 2430 MW are operational. One more in Karachi will soon be operational with generation capacity of 1100 MW.”
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission caters major portion of the cancer burden of the Pakistani population. “AEMC, was the first PAEC cancer institute inaugurated in 1960. Now we have established 19 such cancer institutes throughout Pakistan and one is weeks away from start of construction at Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir,” he shared with the audience.
These hospitals cater more than one million patient visits and register over 40,000 new cancer patients each year. We provide financial support to nearly 70% of these patients. Our doctors and scientists in these hospitals are highly trained and experienced to handle the radiation for medical use. All the hospitals are provided with state-of-the-art therapeutic and diagnostic equipment. We strive to introduce newer technologies which are at par with rest of the world. We have two hospitals equipped with PET-CT technology for prompt diagnosis of cancer. Hybrid imaging has been introduced in many of our hospitals. NORI Islamabad is getting CyberKnife, the second of its kind in Pakistan, Chairman PAEC, Muhammad Naeem further said.
“Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission has always shown its commitment to provide updated and timely diagnostic and treatment services to cancer patients. Management of cancer is difficult and expensive affair. But I can humbly say that we never say ‘NO’ to cancer patients even if they have no resources or their disease is in the advanced stage. I am sure that we will continue to serve with such commitment along with the support of public and private sector for the benefit of our population. Acquiring and maintaining such facilities is very expensive especially for government sector hospitals. Apart from continuing support from both federal and provincial governments,we are also grateful for the generous support of philanthropists and donor organizations like Patient Aid Foundation which is a great encouragement for us. Philanthropist funding has been particularly a great support for our two cancer hospitals in the region of Karachi. In the end, I would like to thank you again for inviting me for this event of inauguration of new Co-60 facility. I hope doctors and scientists of AEMC will continue these efforts in a way that will give timely and affordable cancer care to the patients, Muhammad Naeem concluded.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Member Science PAEC, Dr. Masood Iqbal besides directors of 19 cancer hospitals of PAEC from across the country, dignitaries and medical professors from Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center (JPMC).
