KARACHI: The Patients’ Aids Foundation (PAF), in collaboration with the government of Sindh, plans to install another digital PET-CT scanner next year at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) to meet the growing needs of cancer patients reporting from across the country, a senior radiation oncologist of the hospital stated on Saturday.
The unit is estimated to cost $2 million, experts said.
“We have already launched a [fund raising] campaign [to make the purchase],” said Dr Tariq Mahmood, Professor Emeritus heading the JPMC’s Cyberknife and Tomotherapy Department, while responding to Dawn queries.
Recently concerns have emerged over a technical breakdown of the hospital’s PET (positron emission tomography) scanner that halted its operation for at least 10 days.
Official describes Cyberknife department as the only oncology facility in country offering free services
Sources said that while the relevant team managed to restore its functioning after following quality control procedures, the brief halt in its operation compounded miseries of cancer patients who couldn’t afford the highly expensive but crucial procedure privately.
Commissioned in 2016-2017, the unit was arranged and managed by the PAF-JPMC with the government support. The operational expenses are jointly borne by the PAF-JPMC and the government.
According to experts, an initial PET scan (or PET-CT scan) serves as a crucial reference baseline before treatment begins. It records the exact location, size, and metabolic activity (how fast cells are using sugar) of active disease throughout the body prior to any medical intervention.
The test is also needed to measure treatment response. Every follow-up or surveillance scan is directly compared against this original reference point to determine if a tumour is shrinking, stabilising, or growing.
“Alhamdulillah, our engineers were able to fix the error and we carried out 22 PET-CT scans yesterday (Friday),” Dr Mahmood said, adding that the PET-CT was a very complex machine having a CT and PET scanner where isotopes were used which were very sensitive to humidity.
According to him, the JPMC’s facility is the only centre in the country offering services absolutely free of charge, irrespective of patients’ nationality, religion, ethnicity or socioeconomic background, and carrying out the largest number of scans annually.
A large number of patients from other provinces also visit the JPMC to benefit from the free facility. “Until 2023, less than 2,000 scans were performed annually. To meet the increasing demands, PET-CT & Cyclotron was upgraded and annual throughput increased to 2,810 scans in 2024 and 3,831 scans in 2025.” free facility. “Until 2023, less than 2,000 scans were performed annually. To meet the increasing demands, PET-CT & Cyclotron was upgraded and annual throughput increased to 2,810 scans in 2024 and 3,831 scans in 2025.”
The 2026 target, he says, is around 3800 scans, which is already beyond the comfortable operational capacity of a single scanner.
“The workload at the JPMC has been increased by patients travelling from Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, where absolutely free PET-CT services are not available. To address this growing demand, we aim to increase capacity to 7,000 free scans annually by FY 2027-28.
“This ambitious target requires a second PET-CT scanner. Insha’Allah, PAF-JPMC in collaboration with the government of Sindh is committed to arranging funds for its procurement and operations.”
Long waiting list
According to him, very few centres worldwide have two PET-CT scanners under one roof, even on a commercial basis, and achieving this at the JPMC while providing services entirely free of charge will be an exceptional milestone.
Despite these achievements, Dr Mahmood pointed out, 897 patients are currently on the waiting list.
This includes patients who have been registered for follow-up scans after treatment, and those who require PET-CT as a baseline scan prior to start of treatment or check response to treatments during chemotherapy.
“The team tries to manage cases on a priority basis within a due time. The PAF-JPMC board members have volunteered their lives to oversee all these operations and needs of patients.”
He emphasised that this effective public-private partnership highlighted the need to establish similar facilities within other provinces so that patients can access advanced healthcare facilities closer to their homes.
Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2026
