Yesterday afternoon the Minister of Health, Kristján Júlíusson, was handed a gift of 5.5 million USD (4.9 million EUR) to purchase a PET/CT Scanner for the University Hospital. The scanner is a gift from DeCode Genetics, whose founder and CEO, Kári Stefánsson has on numerous occasions criticized the government for cutting spending on health care and not spending enough on investments in up to date technology.
PET/CT scanners are used for medical imaging to precisely chart metabolic and chemical activity in the body. PET/CT technology has revolutionized medical diagnosis in many fields, and is crucial for modern cancer treatments, as well as in neurology, including the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
A politically loaded gift
Kári Stefánsson wrote in an article last April, published in the local newspaper Morgunblaðið, that a PET/CT scanner was absolutely crucial for the University Hospital. In an interview with the same paper yesterday, Kári argued it was “impossible to practice modern medicine without this instrument”, adding that he hopes that the gift will mark a new chapter of progress for the Icelandic health care system. He added that the lack of a PET/CT scanner had been the most urgent issue to tackle; Icelandic hospitals still lacked a number of other modern medical instruments.
Kári has previously criticized the government, frequently quite pointedly, for not funding health care sufficiently and for dragging its feet when it comes to building a much needed new hospital. An announcement from DeCode Genetics on the occasion of the gift took the opportunity to drive this criticism home, argued that the Icelandic health care system had been neglected for years, and that it lacked necessary up to date technology.
Hospital lacks facilities for the scanner
Jakob Jóhansson, chief physician of radiation oncology at the University Hospital told the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service that since the hospital had lacked a PET/CT scanner it does not have suitable facilities for the machinery. The hospital will most likely have to build new facilities to make room for the scanner. Still, the Ministry of Health hopes that the scanner will be on line and in use within 18 months.
Patients have been sent to Denmark
This year alone almost 200 Icelandic cancer patients will be sent to Copenhagen for a PET Scan, and several dozen Alzheimer’s patients. Sending patients to Denmark is very costly, and having the scanner on hand at the University Hospital would eliminate these costs. Health care professionals believe that the need for the scanner is far greater, as it could be of use in far more treatments than the cases which have been treated in Copenhagen.
Yesterday afternoon the Minister of Health, Kristján Júlíusson, was handed a gift of 5.5 million USD (4.9 million EUR) to purchase a PET/CT Scanner for the University Hospital. The scanner is a gift from DeCode Genetics, whose founder and CEO, Kári Stefánsson has on numerous occasions criticized the government for cutting spending on health care and not spending enough on investments in up to date technology.
PET/CT scanners are used for medical imaging to precisely chart metabolic and chemical activity in the body. PET/CT technology has revolutionized medical diagnosis in many fields, and is crucial for modern cancer treatments, as well as in neurology, including the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
A politically loaded gift
Kári Stefánsson wrote in an article last April, published in the local newspaper Morgunblaðið, that a PET/CT scanner was absolutely crucial for the University Hospital. In an interview with the same paper yesterday, Kári argued it was “impossible to practice modern medicine without this instrument”, adding that he hopes that the gift will mark a new chapter of progress for the Icelandic health care system. He added that the lack of a PET/CT scanner had been the most urgent issue to tackle; Icelandic hospitals still lacked a number of other modern medical instruments.
Kári has previously criticized the government, frequently quite pointedly, for not funding health care sufficiently and for dragging its feet when it comes to building a much needed new hospital. An announcement from DeCode Genetics on the occasion of the gift took the opportunity to drive this criticism home, argued that the Icelandic health care system had been neglected for years, and that it lacked necessary up to date technology.
Hospital lacks facilities for the scanner
Jakob Jóhansson, chief physician of radiation oncology at the University Hospital told the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service that since the hospital had lacked a PET/CT scanner it does not have suitable facilities for the machinery. The hospital will most likely have to build new facilities to make room for the scanner. Still, the Ministry of Health hopes that the scanner will be on line and in use within 18 months.
Patients have been sent to Denmark
This year alone almost 200 Icelandic cancer patients will be sent to Copenhagen for a PET Scan, and several dozen Alzheimer’s patients. Sending patients to Denmark is very costly, and having the scanner on hand at the University Hospital would eliminate these costs. Health care professionals believe that the need for the scanner is far greater, as it could be of use in far more treatments than the cases which have been treated in Copenhagen.
