Aga Khan University Hospital (AKU) and General Electric Healthcare (GE Healthcare) (GEHealthcare.com) today hosted a PET CT and Cyclotron Symposium to drive dialogue on latest innovations and interventions in early cancer diagnosis and detection. The symposium was held to bridge the knowledge gap in the field. Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) in Nairobi has acquired an ultra-modern Positron Emission Tomography (PET) CT scanner and Cyclotron from GE Healthcare. No longer will people need to leave the region in order to benefit from its life-saving diagnostic capabilities. The acquisition of this highly specialised system by AKUH, reaffirms its premier status as the leading provider of quality clinical care, teaching and research in sub-Saharan Africa.

The symposium was attended by university faculty, radiologists and cancer specialists from the East Africa region. Key notes presentations were delivered by world renown Professor Gustav von Schulthess, Chairman and head of department of Medical Radiology at the University Hospital of Zurich and Professor Mansoor Saleh, Senior Scientist and Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology in the University of Alabama at Birmingham USA. Professor Von Schulthess also hosted a webinar on The Impact of Molecular Imaging on Disease Evaluation Contents.

Aga Khan University (AKU) is committed to health professional education – from students in medicine, nursing and other health science professions and to the continuing education of health professionals in practice, supporting the building of health expertise in the region.
We are very happy to collaborate with the Aga Khan University Hospital to deliver the first PET CT and Cyclotron in Sub-Sahara Africa excluding South Africa
Professor Robert Armstrong Founding Dean, (AKU) Medical College in East Africa said “In addition to establishing the PET-CT service, we will establish in our hospital a new Department of Oncology that will provide a high quality integrated model of care that will be focused on continuous learning, developing and sharing best practice, and focused on the continuum of patient care. Closely linked to this will be a significant investment in creating a Centre for Oncology Research – ensuring that we are contributing to the development of research capacity in this field and that we can address the unique issues that present in the context of the communities of East Africa.”

The PET CT machine is a molecular imaging system that gives an accurate indication of the progress of the disease in its earliest stages. The clarity of this technology enables clinicians to confidently evaluate a patient’s response to cancer treatment, reducing on unnecessary procedures and cost of treatment.

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