The government has banned publicly sponsored patients from travelling outside the country for cancer diagnosis using PET scans.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board chief executive Daniel Yumbya said the service is now available in Kenya.
“This applies to patients who are using public funds (NHIF). Our guidelines do not allow us to refer such patients for services that are already available in Kenya,” he said yesterday.
Yumbya said only patients who pay for all their own treatment costs can be approved for PET scans abroad.
“Also there must be evidence that there shall be significant health benefits to the patient in seeking treatment abroad,” he said.
The first Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan in Kenya began operations at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi two weeks ago.
It is the most advanced imaging technology used to detect cancer, heart problems and brain disorders, including problems with the central nervous system.
Previously, hundreds of patients with advanced cancers used to travel to India and South Africa every year for the procedure.“We have served at least 15 patients in one week after we began operations,” Prof Sudhir Vinayak, head of the radiology department at Aga Khan Hospital, told the Star last week.
The scan uses a special liquid dye containing radioactive tracers, which is injected into a vein on the arm. The tracers collect in areas of higher chemical activity, like the cancer-infected areas. These areas show up as bright spots on the PET scan.
Sudhir said the hospital also bought the only cyclotron — the machine used to make the radioactive tracers — in East and Central Africa.
“The entire set up of the cyclotron and the PET scan cost $6 million (Sh600 million),” he said.
He said the hospital will supply the tracers to other hospitals in Kenya, which plan to invest in PET scans.
The National Hospital Insurance Fund is covering the full cost of the PET scan, estimated at Sh69,500 per patient.
According to the medical board, patients can still be approved to travel when there is strict evidence this would be the most cost-effective option for them.