Availability of Radiopharmaceuticals and Imaging Equipment in English-Speaking African Countries

Abstract

Radiopharmaceutical services are key in cancer screening, diagnosis, staging, treatment monitoring, detection of remission, and therapy. Unfortunately, due to the high costs of these services, their availability is very limited in developing countries. This study highlights issues related to access to radiopharmaceuticals and imaging equipment in English-speaking African countries. <b>Methods:</b> The study used a cross-sectional, quantitative online survey approach. <b>Results:</b> Findings revealed that only 13 of the 24 English-speaking African countries have nuclear medicine sites; 62% of countries with nuclear medicine sites rely on sole suppliers for ⁹⁹Mo/^99mTc generators. Of these countries, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe procure their generators only from South Africa, whereas Kenya, Mauritius, and Sudan procure theirs solely from European countries and Turkey. Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Namibia, and Nigeria procure generators from multiple countries. South Africa is the only English-speaking African country that commercializes radiopharmaceuticals and therefore has the greatest access to radiopharmaceuticals in this region. Only 23% of English-speaking African countries having access to PET services and theranostics. <b>Conclusion:</b> Gaps in access to radiopharmaceuticals among English-speaking African countries have been identified and are largely due to the lack of equipment and poor infrastructure. Plans to strengthen access to radiopharmaceuticals in some of the countries in this region are under way. Our survey found that 331,758,822 people from 11 English-speaking African countries from the region have no access to radiopharmaceutical services.