Ivory Coast has recently acquired its first facility dedicated to nuclear medicine. On July 25th, Prime Minister Patrick Achi attended the inauguration of the Abidjan Nuclear Medicine Institute (IMENA), a new healthcare facility built with the assistance of the United Nations and located near the CHU de Cocody.
According to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, nuclear medicine offers highly advanced diagnostics and is used for hundreds of medical conditions. “It should be noted that nuclear medicine is the medical specialty that uses the properties of radioactivity for medical purposes. It offers a highly advanced diagnostic tool, used for hundreds of pathologies, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and neurological conditions.”
In other words, it is the application of radioactivity, a phenomenon of emitting rays, to detect certain diseases and treat others, such as thyroid cancer. It combines three elements: the nuclear laboratory, nuclear imaging, and the hospital.
Furthermore, Ivory Coast will have a sub-regional impact with this center, making it the first country in Francophone Africa to have an institute encompassing all nuclear medicine-related services. This new medical unit, built with the assistance of the Japanese Development Agency (JICA) on four floors with a capacity of over 200 beds, is expected to provide top-notch treatment for thousands of women and young children.
It is worth noting that the construction of these two facilities, aimed at providing high-quality healthcare to the population, required a total investment of around 30 billion FCFA (45.7 million euros), thanks to cutting-edge technology.
