The Russian state corporation Rosatom will establish Tajikistan’s first nuclear medicine center in Dushanbe, Prime Minister of Tajikistan Kohir Rasulzoda announced during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Asia-Plus reports.
According to the Tajik Ministry of Health, the first working group meeting on the project was held back in July 2023. Since then, Tajik authorities and Rosatom have developed and approved a roadmap for the center's creation. The facility’s design was drawn up with reference to current cancer incidence rates in the country.
The center is expected to cover an area of 5,000 square meters and serve approximately 2,500 patients annually. It will include diagnostic and therapeutic departments, a 10-bed inpatient unit, and a training and education center.
The diagnostic unit will feature a radioisotope diagnostics section, a cyclotron-radiochemistry complex, as well as equipment for positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
The therapeutic unit will include an outpatient consultation area and inpatient beds, a radiotherapy suite, a treatment block using radiopharmaceuticals (radioisotopes), a modern linear accelerator for external beam therapy, and equipment for brachytherapy.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, a training program is also being developed for personnel to staff the future center, including specialists from outside the capital. If needed, the Regional Training Center of the Agency for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Safety under the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan will be involved. The introduction of specialized programs at the National University of Tajikistan and the Tajik State Medical University is also under discussion.
The timeline for the center’s commissioning has not yet been finalized, as it depends on the outcome of ongoing administrative agreements.
Nuclear medicine is one of the most innovative branches of modern healthcare, using radioactive isotopes in diagnostics and treatment. This technology enables doctors to detect cancer at stages too early for conventional imaging methods to register.
Rosatom is actively expanding its medical infrastructure with the goal of delivering comprehensive medical services and improving access to critical medical technologies, equipment, and medications both within Russia and internationally. The corporation currently cooperates with more than 50 countries in the field of nuclear medicine.
