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By Doris Obinna
As part of its ongoing commitment to provide quality healthcare to sub-Saharan Africa, GE Healthcare presented its latest solutions during the ARCON conference held in Nigeria recently.
In a statement, the team said it was focused on bringing cutting-edge technologies to the region to increase accessibility, provide clinicians with faster access to information and help increase quality of care, particularly in the field of oncology.
“In Nigeria, cancer leads to approximately 72,000 deaths every year. It is estimated that there are 102,000 new cases of cancer annually, with breast and cervical cancers as the two most common types, accounting for approximately 50 per cent of all cases.”
Given the disproportionate number of women impacted by these cancers, the team said its focus on oncological diagnosis and care was a step forward in a key initiative for the country.
“GE Healthcare has worked to support both public and private sectors across the region, supporting the development of Nigeria’s healthcare infrastructure and bringing the latest solutions to the region, including anatomic imaging of CT and PET technologies, that allows for the visualization of cellular metabolism activity. This means that clinicians will be able to evaluate earlier whether a treatment is working, and tailor an appropriate therapy regimen according to patients’ unique needs, bringing an entirely new level of healthcare technology in the fight against cancer.
“This technology puts together images with high-quality, detailed information about the structure and function of the organs and tissues in the body, putting together a complete picture of what is happening inside the body. This has become essential technology for clinicians to look at how certain diseases progress and develop.
“One of the partners GE Healthcare is working with is Me Cure Healthcare Limited, a leading healthcare provider in Nigeria. The partners will together open a first of its kind Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography PET/CT system in West Africa later this year.
“The new centre highlights GE’s commitment to supporting the health sector in the region. The venture will help deliver enhanced diagnostic care, a key element in preventative measures and early diagnosis. Critically, the centre will seek to support patients in getting the right diagnosis and treatment closer to home. This is of particular importance in the context of the pandemic, when travel abroad can be difficult and cost-prohibitive.
“The Cyclotron technology that will be available at the centre is a large particle accelerator that spins protons as fast as 20 per cent of the speed of light (132 million mph). Agents are developed to light up a patient’s cancer or Parkinson’s disease markers during a diagnostic scan. With this technology, Me Cure aims to conduct PET/CT exams for over 3,000 patients a year. This will support the government’s goals of making screening services and early detection of cancer available for more Nigerians, and improving access to quality, cost effective, and equitable diagnostic and treatment services for cancer care.”
“I am proud to be part of this project, as it will contribute to better healthcare for people across West Africa, and Nigeria in particular. The strong will of the team allowed us to move forward with this partnership with GE Healthcare, which supports our vision in improving the diagnostic and treatment experience of our patients, to provide high quality and accessible clinical and outpatient services to the people of Nigeria,” said chairman, Me Cure Healthcare, Samir Udani.
“Our purpose is to improve lives in moments that matter, and this is an example of partnering to help deliver sustainable and accessible precision care to all. The patient is the centre of everything we do and we are proud to continue providing technologies that can help detect cancer early, reducing overall mortality rates and improving quality of life. By providing our innovative PET/CT technologies in Nigeria, we are delivering on our commitment to make a positive impact in the communities in which we live,” general manager of GE Healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa, Eyong Ebai, said.
