Nuclear medicine facility to reduce foreign travel for cancer treatment – SGMC

Ghana has commissioned West Africa's first nuclear medicine facility to enhance early cancer diagnosis and treatment and reduce outbound medical travel.

The facility, located at the Sweden Ghana Medical Centre (SGMC) in Accra, includes a cyclotron and a Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography (PET-CT) scanner.

Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Dr Clement Egyin Edusa, Medical Director and Chief Executive Officer of SGMC, described the project as “a historic day for the healthcare future of Ghana and indeed the West African sub-region.”

President John Dramani Mahama commissioned the state-of-the-art PET-CT scan facility for cancer diagnosis and treatment at the Centre.

Dr Edusa said the facility would improve early diagnosis and precision treatment for cancer and other diseases, reduce treatment costs and improve survival outcomes.

He said many patients had previously travelled abroad at great financial cost for specialised cancer care because such services were unavailable locally.

“We see a future where patients from across the region come to Ghana, not because they have no options, but because Ghana has become the option,” he said.

Dr Edusa recounted the experience of a patient in his 50s who moved from one health facility to another before discovering his condition at an advanced stage.

“If only we had known earlier,” he quoted the patient as saying, adding that the facility was intended to help reduce such experiences among families.

“Today, SGMC is helping to change a narrative,” he said, noting that many African families continued to lose loved ones due to late detection, inaccurate diagnosis and delayed treatment.

Dr Edusa said the Centre had also acquired a new generation linear accelerator, known as Infinity from Elekta Sweden, to support precision radiotherapy for patients diagnosed through the PET-CT system.

He praised the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), owners of the facility, for investing in modern healthcare infrastructure and specialist services.

The facility, staffed entirely by Ghanaians, currently employs about 70 workers.

Mr Prosper Tachie, President of GNAT, said the association had undertaken major expansion works at the facility since acquiring it in 2020, mainly through bank financing.

He appealed to President Mahama to support the Centre with tax rebates on imported medical equipment to strengthen cancer treatment services and position Ghana as a medical tourism destination.

Mr Tachie said the Centre had expanded its services to include an in-patient ward for critically ill cancer patients, accommodation for caregivers and residential facilities for staff to support 24-hour operations.

Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Education, said President Mahama had “taken judicial notice” of the request for tax exemptions on imported medical equipment.

He commended GNAT for complementing government efforts in healthcare delivery and strengthening collaboration with the Presidency.

GNA