CUTTACK: The PET-CT scan facility installed in Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute for Cancer (AHPGIC), Cuttack is yet to get approval from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) to start operations.
In an affidavit filed on Monday in the Orissa High Court, AHPGIC Director Dr Lalatendu Sarangi stated that the PET-CT scan facility was installed on July 5. Though it is ready to begin operation, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) test report required for seeking AERB approval has not come yet.
Specialised tools required for NEMA test have been detained at Dibrugarh owing to floods in Assam. On delivery of the tools, regulatory approvals from AERB will be obtained and thereafter the facility shall become operational, Sarangi stated in the affidavit.
The PET-CT scan facility reached AHPGIC on April 6. It is a vital test required for detecting if a cancer cell has spread to other parts of a patient’s body other than the initial point. The device is known to be the latest and modern equipment to detect cancer in the whole body.
The HC was hearing the PIL seeking intervention for making the facility available at AHPGIC, the only government cancer hospital in the State which has been managing with CT scan. Anita Budhia, a cancer patient who died later, had filed the petition over a year back. Advocate Arun Buddhia was appearing for the petitioner.
Taking note of the affidavit, the division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice RK Pattanaik posted the matter to August 23 along with direction to the State government to file an affidavit on the current status of procurement of the PET-CT scan equipment for the medical facilities at Balasore and Berhampur.
"Apart from filing an affidavit regarding the facility in the above-mentioned cities, the State government will also inform by way of an affidavit to be filed one week prior to the next date of procuring and installing similar equipment at Jharsuguda and Bhubaneswar," the bench specified.