STATUS OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

In Pakistan history of nuclear medicine (NM) starts in 1960 when Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) established the first nuclear medicine facility in Karachi. It was named as Radioisotope Centre, located in Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) Karachi which was the largest healthcare facility. The journey continues and till date PAEC has established 18 state of art nuclear medicine and oncology centers in all provinces of Pakistan. After 2010 provincial governments of Sind and Punjab also contributed by establishing 09 NM centers as well. In 1993, private sectors embarked the ride and first NM facility in private sector was established at Dr Ziauddin Medical University, Karachi and now we have at least 11 private NM facilities (06 Sind, 03 Punjab, 02 KPK). Following the steps of predecessors, the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) Karachi established its state of art NM facility in 2000.