PAEC to harness nuclear technology for health, socio-economic uplift
By Adnan Rafique

ISLAMABAD—Utilizing nuclear technology for peaceful usage, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) plans to construct five more cancer hospitals in addition to 13 hospitals already providing services to more than 3,50,000 patients annually.
Chairman PAEC, Parvez Butt said this at the inaugural ceremony of a five-day regional training course on "Radionuclide Treatment of Liver Cancer" jointly organized by PAEC and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) here on Tuesday. He announced setting up of a state-of-the-art cancer hospital at Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir which is at the advanced stages of its implementation.
"Our cancer care facilities are amongst the best in the world,thanks to IAEA's support and our international liaison in the field of research and training on the subject," he said.
In view of the growing incidence of cancer in the world including Pakistan, he also proposed establishment of a National Cancer Centre for compiling data on various malignancies, number of patients in the country for purposes of analysis and strategy formulation for combating cancer and pledged full technical support for this Centre from PAEC research and operational experience.
While appreciating IAEA's role in this regard, Chairman PAEC urged the IAEA to go beyond its safeguards and non-proliferation role and undertake activities to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world.
Prevention and cure of Hepatitis B and C, which ultimately lead to the ailment of liver, is already the top priority of the government, he informed. Speaking on the occasion, Member (Biosciences) PAEC, Dr. Kauser Abdullah Malik divulged the diverse nature of PAEC's programme covering Defence, R&D, Human Resource Development, Industrial Support Services, Agriculture Improvement Research and Cancer Treatment.
Dr. Kauser informed that in view of the high rate of breast cancer incidence in woman, PAEC has established Breast Cancer Clinics in all of its thirteen hospitals for screening, early diagnosis and treatment and is also undertaking a public awareness campaign at national level IAEA faculty member, Dr. A.K. Padhy introduced in detail the nuclear medicine programme of IAEA which aims at providing transfer of technology to developing and least developed countries for cancer treatment.
There are as many as 400 research scientists from member states engaged in this research programme, he informed.
He appreciated Pakistan's courage in arranging the workshop despite a national earthquake tragedy. Dr. Rafaqat Ali Jafri, the host of the conference and Director NORI, informed that conventional treatment of liver cancer offers low survival rate and its treatment through nuclear related techniques, which already is in practice in many countries, offers multiple benefits and a much superior cure rate.