Availability and Affordability Of PET Tracers, The Challenges and Opportunities in Developing Countries

The PET/CT technology and its continuous developments are widely spread all over the world, however the distribution of the cyclotrons and the availability and affordability of its tracers is not well organized among the globe and varies greatly from country to another and consequently will affect the number of installed PET/CT scanners and in consequence the health care management for patients. The IAEA-IMAGINE database provides a comprehensive compilation of medical imaging and nuclear medicine resources, with information on these resources from over 170 countries and territories all over the world. It shows that information on world maps and several charts, as well as snapshot of key elements in the growing database. The degree to which these technologies and relevant skilled human resources are inequitably distributed.
Another cyclotron database was developed by the IAEA which shows the distribution of cyclotrons by different country and regions, from which also it is figured out that the distribution of cyclotrons among countries are heterogeneously located. From those databases it is obvious that inequities in access to PET-CT are striking. In high-income countries, there are 3.52 scanners/million inhabitants and in low-income settings, 0.004 scanners/million.
Several challenges and obstacles are facing the proper availability of such technology among developing countries and in consequence the proper healthcare delivery and management for the patients. Those obstacles include economic, political, regulatory, infrastructure, marketing and manpower problems. On the other hand, finding solutions for those obstacles is applicable as there are many alternatives and methodologies has been applied to overcome those obstacles in the developing countries.