PAEC set to open cancer hospital in Gilgit

Islamabad : The cancer awareness campaign needs to be expanded to cover every nook and corner of Pakistan, and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Cancer Hospitals should take the lead in research and development related to cancer awareness.

The Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Muhammad Naeem expressed these views while addressing a cancer awareness seminar held Saturday here at NORI, the capital’s top-notch public sector hospital specializing in diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The seminar was followed by a walk and inauguration of several essential facilities.

Naeem termed early diagnosis as being the key for cancer cure. He appreciated the role of 18 PAEC cancer hospitals in general and NORI in particular and assured to patronize all future projects also. The participants were told that the 19th Cancer Hospital of PAEC in Gilgit is nearing completion and will soon be operationalised. He also inaugurated the MRI Simulator and SPECT-CT machine at NORI besides laying the foundation stone of PET-Cyclotron Facility.

Speaking on the occasion, the Director of NORI Dr. Mohammad Faheem shared details about the newly-added facilities of cancer diagnosis and treatment at the hospital. These include Cyber Knife, Linear Accelerator, MRI Simulator (second of its kind in Pakistan), most modern PET-Cyclotron (first in Pakistan and seventh in the world), SPECT CT, Gamma Camera, digital X-Ray and Mammography.

Dr. Faheem thanked the PAEC chairman for his support for upgrading NORI in particular and other cancer hospitals being run under the aegis of PAEC in general. He also thanked President of NORI Patient Welfare Society (NPWS), Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary, for his assistance in getting the PC-1 approved. He saluted the whole team of NORI for dedicating their lives to providing relief to ailing cancer patients. In the context of COVID-19, he appreciated Dr. Aisha Manan and Dr. Sana Mehmood for coordinating a series of public awareness webinars planned by NORI, with Dr. Humera Mahmood as the expert speaker.

Cancer survivors including the former Foreign Secretary and Director General of the Institute of Strategic Studies Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary, former Additional Attorney General and columnist Tallat Abbas, Head of the MCH Centre at PIMS Prof. Syeda Batool, and former director news PTV Raffat Nazir, shared their experiences of fighting the disease with the support of NORI. They appreciated the dedication of all doctors, especially Dr. Faheem, Dr. Humera, Dr. Rakhshanda, and Dr. Kashif.

MNA Shaheen Naz Saifullah, who is the spouse of cancer survivor, shared her ordeal as a caregiver. All speakers stressed the need for early diagnosis to treat breast cancer and called for the adoption of ‘check, screen and prevent’ approach in the fight against breast cancer.