Nuclear medicine is an important component of modern medicine

KUCHING, Sept. 19: Nuclear medicine is an important component of modern medicine, especially in aiding the diagnosis process and assessing patient prognosis.

Deputy Prime Minister of Sarawak, Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian said the role of the field is still poorly known to the public as most nuclear medical personnel work behind the scenes.

"Nuclear medicine is actually a very important component of the medical field", he said while speaking at the Dinner Gala of the 2026 National Conference on Nuclear Medicine here, last night.

Dr Sim who is also the Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government said that advances in technologies such as PET-CT and molecular imaging are also expanding the role of nuclear medicine in clinical practice.

However, he said that the selection of medical technology and equipment should be based on the real needs of local people, clinical priorities and their impact on patients.

He also stressed the importance of sharing knowledge and experience between local and international experts to help medical practitioners determine appropriate technologies and should be given priority.

According to him, Sarawak is still facing challenges as it does not yet have a cyclotron, causing some of the radioactive isotopes to be imported from outside in limited time following the process of radioactive shrinkage.

In spite of the restrictions, he praised the nuclear medical team in Sarawak for continuing to provide necessary services.

Meanwhile, Dr Sim said that the Sarawak Government has provided RM500 million for equipment for the Sarawak Cancer Centre which is under planning.

He stressed that end users including specialists and medical personnel should be involved in determining the equipment to be acquired as they better understand clinical needs.

"One of the reasons the Sarawak Government wants to handle the equipment is to allow all end users to make decisions instead of decisions being made in Kuala Lumpur.

"In the end, it's the end user who will use the equipment", he said.

So he asked a nuclear medicine specialist to conduct a detailed study to identify the equipment that was really needed.

Dr Sim said the RM500 million was an initial allocation and additional needs could be discussed with the Sarawak Premier if supported by clinical trials.

He also stressed that world-class service development is not only dependent on equipment and knowledge, but requires expertise, professional values, research, collaboration and human capital development.