PAEC chief inaugurates linear accelerator at NORI

Islamabad : The Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Muhammad Naeem, inaugurated a linear accelerator at the Atomic Energy Cancer Hospital (AECH), NORI—the top-notch public sector cancer hospital of Islamabad—here on Wednesday.

The inauguration was performed at an awareness raising ceremony that packaged a seminar on breast cancer under the slogan ‘Give Hope Save Lives,’ and a walk-a-cause. A medical linear accelerator (LINAC) is the device most commonly used for extrenal beam radication treatments for patients with cancer. It delivers high-energy X-rays or electrons to the region of the patient’s tumor. These treatments can be designed in such a way that they destroy the cancer cells while sparing the surrounding normal tissue.

Speaking as chief guest, Naeem termed early diagnosis as being the key to cancer cure, and in this context, appreciated the role of 18 AECHs in general and NORI in particular. He informed that the 19th cancer hospital of PAEC in Gilgit (GINOR) has been completed and will soon become operational and hoped that NORI will be the new collaboration centre in health of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Pakistan, and that NIAB will represent the country at IAEI in international collaboration in the agriculture sector.

Earlier, the Director of NORI, Dr. Mohammad Faheem, welcomed the participants and shared details about the newly added facilities at the hospital, including the linear accelerator. Sharing the alarmingly high figures of breast cancer prevalence among women in Pakistan, he said, “Breast cancer accounts for nearly 40 percent of all female malignancies, which is the highest in Asia. Its prevalence in both the genders is as high as 25 percent, which is quite high too.”

Dr. Faheem thanked the PAEC Chairman for his unwavering support to the cause of upgrading NORI and other cancer hospitals being run under the aegis of PAEC in general. He also thanked President of Patient Welfare Society (PWS) of NORI, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, for his valuable assistance, and saluted the whole team of NORI for dedicating their lives to providing relief to ailing cancer patients.

Cancer survivors including former Foreign Secretary, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, and Member of Patient Support Group NORI, Samina Zafar, shared their experience of fighting the disease with the help of NORI team. She urged families of patients to extend all possible emotional support to them, and appreciated the dedication and professionalism of NORI doctors especially Dr. Faheem, Dr. Humera Mahmood, and Dr. Kashif.

In the end, the Head of the Oncology Department of NORI, Dr. Humera Mahmood, announced the names of teams winning the ‘Breast Cancer Awareness Poster Competition’. Muhammad Naeem (HI, SI) and Member Science PAEC, Dr. Masood Iqbal, distributed prizes among winners and shields among guests.

The event ended with an awareness walk. COVID-19 SOPs were strictly followed by the organisers.