Africa-Press – Mauritius. A workshop to strengthen the quality of the nuclear medicine services, opened, today, at the Voila Hotel in Bagatelle, in the presence of the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal, and other personalities.
This International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Coordination Meeting for Project RAF 6057: Strengthening the Quality of the Nuclear Medicine Services and Scientific Conference, was attended by IAEA Experts, technical officers from Vienna International Centre, Algeria and South Africa, and; representatives of different health Institutions from African Member States.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Jagutpal indicated that Nuclear Medicine is used in many fields of healthcare, including Cardiology, Necrology, Neurology and Radiotherapy for treatment and diagnostic purposes. This meeting, he affirmed, aims to provide expertise from the IAEA to empower physicians and technicians on how to use nuclear medicine wisely.
Furthermore, the Minister outlined that the IAEA serves as an intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear technology and nuclear power worldwide, along with assisting countries to use nuclear science and technology to address key development priorities including health, agriculture, water, environment and industry.
IAEA, he underscored, has contributed immensely to the development of nuclear medicine, and radiotherapy in the health sector through several training programmes and capacity building.
“Mauritius, a member of this Agency since 1974, has recently benefitted from its assistance by using the “Sterile Insect Technique” for irradiated mosquitoes to help ward off mosquito-borne diseases such as Dengue,” Dr Jagutpal pointed out.
The Health Minister further dwelt on other inputs in the medical sector by the IAEA, including: the setting up of a radiotherapy department in 2001 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital; the donation of equipment such as Gamma cameras and DEXA Scanners for the nuclear medicine department; technical support in the form of overseas training for various staff cadres; and provision of a framework for African Member States to intensify their collaboration through programmes and projects focused on the specific shared needs of its members known as the African Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology.
Minister Jagutpal went on to indicate that the IAEA has also been collaborating with Mauritius for the past few years on a major national project for the early diagnosis, management, and treatment of oncological patients, entitled “Establishing Hybrid Imaging in Nuclear Medicine for Better Management of Non-Communicable Diseases”.
This project involved the setting up of a new department to accommodate a state-of-the-art PET-CT scanner and the construction of a new cancer centre, in which the IAEA has provided invaluable technical expertise and capacity building support, he claimed.
Mauritius, Dr Jagutpal underscored, has always been a keen and active partner with the IAEA for such training events and, according to him, this final coordination meeting will enable Mauritius and its neighbouring countries to review, amongst others, the progress made and the achievements reached during the previous meetings; and to discuss as well as agree on future actions in strengthening of the quality of nuclear medicine services in each respective country and the region at large.
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