9 minutes agoQKUK secures PET scan/ CT, but not even immediate services
Periskopi(2 years ago)
(2 years ago)For the first time, the University Clinical Centre of Kosovo has provided equipment for diagnostics and management of various types of cancer, but also some other diseases, known as PET/CT. Services with this device have never been offered at CKUK, but in private institutions or abroad, something [...]
Services with this device have never been offered at QKUK but in private institutions or abroad, which has cost patients thousands of euros.
The situation at the expense of them, however, could continue for some time, despite the security of PET/CT.
This, since the object on which the device is placed, should be obtained special permission, the staff should be trained and the extenuating material should be provided.
How is it secured? PET/CT?
PET/CT, worth 1.5m euros, has been provided as a donation through the commitment of the Jahjaga ʹ Foundation a non-governmental organisation led by former Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga.
The device has reached QKUK since February 14th, but has not yet been functional.
“We believe that they are now at the end of the final works, to function it”, the Jahjaga Foundation said briefly.
The device is located in an facility of the Nuclear Medicine Service within the QKUK.
The director of this service, Faik Spahiu, numbers several reasons why it has not been implemented:
The “Object is in renovation, but complete. Tactical training and doctors are still being held, while some will also have abroad”.
Spahiu, too, says the object where he's set PET/CT, should be licensed by the Kosovo Agency for Protection from Radiation and Nuclear Security.
He says this procedure will not take long, but does not specify more.
Another challenge mentioned is the obtaining of the extenuating material that must be passed through the tender.
I believe this week the tender will be issued from the QKUK, as there is no planning for material... and those procurement procedures must be passed”, Spahiu says, expressing optimism that things will go well.
There will be no problem with reading results derived from the PET/CT” examination, he says.
Why Important PET/CT?
According to the Mayo Clinic in the U.S. CT is an effective way to detect certain diseases, including cancer, heart disease and brain disorders.
A radioactive drug is prescribed for the procedure, which indicates the typical and apic activity in patients.
Professor Rame Miftari, Kosovo nuclear medicine specialist, says PET/ The CT “provides a superior diagnostic method to the current methods that are used at”.
It reflects the functioning of all systems in the human body”, it tells Radio Free Europe.
Taking as an example neurologic problems, Miftar says that with PET/ CT “can also be discovered by degeneracy, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and epileptics, which are far more difficult to detect with other diagnostic methods”.
How have patients been found in Kosovo?
Radio Free Europe reported earlier on the lack of PET/ CT's at QKUK, but none of the leaders at the time could say why such a device is missing.
Patients who needed it have turned to a private institution, where payment amounts to 1,400 euros, or have gone abroad.
Kosovo's Health Insurance Fund covers these expenses, but patients have to wait weeks, if not months, until they pass all the money insurance procedures.
Radio Free Europe has been able to talk to some patients who because of the emergency situation had to pay themselves. / REL/
