South Africa opens Africa’s first nuclear medicine facility for advanced cancer treatment

Officially opened on May 21 in Pretoria, the facility boasts a cyclotron, the first of its kind in Africa, designed to produce isotopes used in radiation therapy, the South African Government News Agency reported.

The NuMeRI facility will offer centralised expertise in nuclear technologies in biosciences and medicine and will help treat cancer and other key diseases like tuberculosis (TB).

Dr. Blade Nzimande, South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation, highlighted the facility's importance during the opening ceremony.

“The mobilisation of innovation and technology to address the disease burden and the need to provide quality health care to all South Africans is a key priority of my department’s Decadal Plan on Science, Technology, and Innovation,” he said.

“It will assist in taking bio-innovations further down the value chain from radiolabelling to preclinical testing. It will also contribute to good manufacturing practices and clinical trials,” he added.

Cancer remains a significant health challenge in South Africa. Between 2008 and 2019, the highest incidences of cancer among South African males were prostate, colorectal, lung, and non-melanoma skin cancers. Among females, breast, cervical, colorectal, and non-melanoma skin cancers were most prevalent.

In 2018, cancer deaths were most common in the age group of 65 to 69 years, with 2,996 deaths among men and 2,546 among women. The Black African population recorded the highest number of cancer-related deaths, with nearly 24,000 fatalities in that same period.