Cancer: Nuclear Medicine Contributes to Accurate Diagnosis, Treatment Planning-Prof. Malami

The Director General of the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT), Prof. Usman Malami Aliyu, has disclosed that nuclear medicine is a vital component of modern cancer care, contributing to accurate diagnosis, staging, treatment planning, monitoring and therapeutic interventions.

He disclosed this while declaring open a 5-day Regional Training Course on Quality Assurance Programme in Nuclear Medicine (QUANUM), organised by NICRAT in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The training, according to him, is timely and highly relevant because practical focus on QUANUM processes, audit preparation, quality management and the application of QUANUM checklists will provide participants with tools that can be translated directly into improved practice within their institutions.

“At NICRAT, we recognize that building the capacity of the cancer workforce is fundamental to improving cancer outcomes in Nigeria. As part of our mandate, we have intensified capacity-building initiatives across the oncology space and have, to date, trained over 2,000 healthcare workers in various areas of cancer care.

“These efforts reflect our commitment to strengthening the knowledge, skills and competencies required to deliver high-quality, safe and patient-centred cancer services.

“We are particularly pleased that this programme extends that commitment into the area of nuclear medicine quality assurance, while also providing an opportunity for regional knowledge exchange and collaboration,” Prof. Malami said.

He, therefore, charged the participants to actively engage with the faculty, share experiences from their respective institutions and, most importantly, consider how the knowledge and tools acquired during this course can be implemented to strengthen quality systems in their facilities.