A new nuclear medicine centre that will provide life-saving diagnosis and treatment of non-communicable diseases has opened in Jamaica, with the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under its Rays of Hope initiative launched earlier this year to help countries fight cancer. The country’s first such public centre is located in the University Hospital of the West Indies in the capital Kingston, and will help with the management of cancer and other diseases – including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases – that are responsible for the deaths of seven out of ten Jamaicans. 

Although it has more than 7000 new cancer cases per year, Jamaica has until now operated only four teletherapy machines in its public medical facilities and no nuclear medicine facilities. Patients, including those with prostate, lung, and colorectum cancer – the most common types in the country – can now be diagnosed also in the new centre, which will extend the overall capabilities of the country.  

“Nuclear medicine and its support for early diagnosis and treatment can mean a difference between life and death. This facility will benefits citizens of Jamaica and wider Caribbean - patients can now get cutting edge care at a fraction of the cost,” said Prime Minister Andrew Holness at the inauguration ceremony on 30 June. “This will be the only public nuclear medicine in the country – and it is a result of the teamwork with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” he continued.