Uganda bets Shs180bn on PET scans

A cancer diagnosis can depend not only on whether a patient reaches a hospital, but on whether doctors have the technology to see where the disease is hiding and how far it has spread.

Uganda is now investing Shs 180 billion in a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan and nuclear medicine facility at the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI), bringing advanced imaging technology closer to patients who may otherwise have to travel outside the country for specialized diagnostic services.

The investment comes as UCI handles a growing patient load. The institute registered 8,764 new patients in 2025, a 10 per cent increase from the previous year, while outpatient visits reached 67,000.

Dr Diana Atwine, the permanent secretary in the ministry of Health, said the new facility will have three PET machines and a cyclotron, a specialized machine that produces the radioactive materials, known as tracers or radioisotopes, needed for PET imaging.

“The facility will be equipped with three PET machines and a cyclotron, which produces radioisotopes/tracers. The first PET machine is expected this month and will be fully functional by the end of the year,” Atwine said on X, in response to The Observer story last week shining a light on the dire situation in healthcare.

The funding announcement followed the death of the late Tooro Kingdom leader, Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, who had earlier sought treatment at several high-end hospitals in Kampala after experiencing persistent back pain.

According to the account provided, X-rays and MRI scans did not detect the cancer. Oyo later travelled to Nairobi, Kenya, where a PET scan detected the disease. Despite treatment, he died about a year later. His experience illustrates the diagnostic gap the government says the investment is intended to narrow.

**WHAT EXACTLY DOES A PET SCAN DO? **

A PET scan lets doctors look beyond an organ’s physical shape. It uses small amounts of radioactive material called radiotracers to show activity within tissues and organs at the cellular level.

Abnormally behaving areas can absorb the tracer differently, allowing specialists to identify suspicious activity, determine how far a disease may have spread, and monitor whether treatment is working.

That makes PET different from conventional imaging that primarily shows the structure of organs and tissues. But it is not a stand-alone cancer test. A doctor at UCI, who spoke on condition of anonymity, cautioned against portraying the new technology as a complete solution to Uganda’s cancer burden.

“A PET scan goes hand in hand with other diagnostics, including laboratory diagnostics and other imaging diagnostics,” the doctor said.

For example, a PET scan may reveal an area where cells are unusually active. Doctors may then need to take tissue from that area for a biopsy before confirming whether it is cancer.

“The PET scan is going to show where the abnormality is, if there are cells that are taking up the radioisotopes or the tracers much more avidly than normal cells. And then you must do a biopsy there to confirm that it’s cancer,” he said.

Technology can also be used beyond cancer, including in assessing other diseases.

“There are some achievements in the treatment of cancer without this scanner. Almost every cancer can be treated without PET,” the doctor said.

“It’s not that if you don’t have PET, you can’t treat cancer. That is what I’m trying to say. But it helps you fine-tune what you have found with the other methods.”

The Shs 180 billion investment is therefore about more than buying PET machines. Atwine said the project includes nuclear medicine treatment facilities, a SPECT scanner already installed, and units for producing cold kits.

The government is also constructing interventional radiology, endoscopy and colonoscopy suites at UCI and expanding inpatient, outpatient and radiotherapy services. The PET facility could also reduce Uganda’s dependence on specialized diagnostic services abroad.

Access to technology remains limited across Africa. According to figures, at least 10 of the continent’s 54 countries had PET-CT scanners as of 2025, including Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia, Algeria, Nigeria, Morocco, Libya, Mauritius and Tanzania.

The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that Africa has fewer than 0.2 nuclear medicine units for every million people, leaving many patients far from specialized diagnostic and treatment services.

The machines themselves are expensive. According to the latest figures, PET equipment on the international market ranges from $250,000 to more than $5 million, while individual scans can cost between $1,500 and $12,000 or more, depending on the facility and procedure.

The investment is part of a wider effort to expand cancer services outside the capital. Government is establishing regional cancer centres in Arua, Mbale, Mbarara and Gulu, with the longer-term goal of enabling regional referral hospitals to provide dedicated cancer treatment.

For patients, the intended result is straightforward: fewer journeys to Kampala for specialized care and, eventually, fewer journeys outside Uganda. But Health minister Dr Chris Baryomunsi warned that sophisticated machines will solve only part of the problem.

Many Ugandans still seek treatment when their cancer is already advanced, making successful treatment more difficult, he said.

“If a Ugandan is going to go for more screening and the cancer is detected or diagnosed in the earlier stages, stage one, it can be successfully managed,” Baryomunsi said.

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