CUTTACK: After much hue and cry and also with the interference of the Orissa High Court, the Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute of Cancer(AHPGIC) is all set to provide Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) scan facility to patients from Monday.
Acting under the direction of the High Court, the PET-CT scan facility was installed at AHPGIC on July 5, but could not be made operational due to a delay in the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) test report required for seeking Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) approval for operation.
“All the required approvals to operate PET-CT scan have been received and we will start a trial scan from Monday,” AHPGIC Director Prof. Lalatendu Sarangi said. There will be no online booking for undergoing the test. The advice for PET-CT scan has to be done by the clinicians of AHPGIC based upon the clinical need like CT/MRI or any other test, he added.
“The machine has been installed under PPP mode. We have provided the core space and specs of the machine to the PPP vendor through an open tender by OSMCL. The vendor will operate the machine and we shall pay per case as decided in the tender,” said Sarangi.
While the AERB approval is for 120 cases per week, the vendor may conduct 15 to 20 cases on a day, he informed. A PET-CT scan is a vital test required for detecting if a cancer cell has spread to other body parts of a patient other than the initial organ. However, due to the unavailability of this facility at the State’s premier cancer-care facility, the patients were facing a lot of financial hardships either at the private hospitals or labs.
A PIL was filed in Orissa High Court by a cancer patient, Anita Buddhia, who was bound to have her tests done at private institutes and had to spend over a lakh for four tests questioning why the PET-CT scan facilities were unavailable at AHPGIC. The High Court then directed the State government to immediately bear all the expenses towards the installation of the PET-CT scan facility and extend its services to the patients free of cost.