Doctors at Apeksha hospital unable to use PET scanner

Colombo (News1st) - Reports have surfaced that the PET Scanners at the Apeksha Hospital in Maharagama and the National Hospital are in a state where they can no longer be used. Trade Unions charge that the PET Scanner set up at the National Hospital one and a half ago has not been put into operation as yet. General Secretary of the Government Radiologists' Union, Dharmakeerthi Epa speaking to News1st said that they did not receive a "Hot lab" with the PET scanner, which he claims is essential for the use of this scanner. A hot lab is a special lab designed to handle radioactive substances. Epa claims that they are unable to use the scanner nor provide training to use the scanner due to the lack of a hot lab. However, on the 17th of January 2018 Minister of Health Dr. Rajitha Senarante said something different about the PET Scanner at the National Hospital. The minister claimed that they require various isotopes to run the scanner and that they are talking with investors to manufacture the isotopes in Sri Lanka itself. It's been four months since the Ministers made that statement and today the PET Scanner at the National Hospital does not function. A PET Scanner was donated to the Apeksha Hospital in Maharagama a month ago, through the donations made by many Sri Lankans. Hospital Authorities said, as the Government has failed to provide the required Isotope for the PET Scanner to function, the hospital is not able to make use of it. At present, it is only being used for CT Scans.