PESHAWAR, Oct 3: There is an acute shortage of trained manpower in the field of nuclear medicine throughout the world, including Pakistan, while the list of potential employers is growing with the day.

This was disclosed by Dr Syed Qaiser Shah, director of the Centre for Nuclear and Molecular Studies (CNMS), University of Peshawar, while addressing a ceremony held on the occasion of launch of the first batch of the M.Phil and PhD of the Nuclear Medicine Programme at the centre on Monday, according to a press release.

Vice-chancellor, University of Peshawar, Prof Dr Azmat Hayat Khan inaugurated the programme.

Dr Qaiser said Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) had planned to establish three nuclear medicine and radiotherapy centers/hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one each in Abbottabad, D.I.Khan and Swat. He said such centres would definitely need trained professionals in future.

The private sector was also growing at an enormous rate and huge investment was being made in the field of nuclear medicine, he said, while speaking about the scope of the nuclear medicine.

Dr Qaiser said the public sector hospitals in need of professionals from specialised field of nuclear medicine were also facing problems in finding the qualified staff.

The vice-chancellor of the University of Peshawar appreciated the steps taken by the centre to fill in the dearth of skilled human resource in the field of nuclear medicine. He later distributed certificates among the technical staff and PhD scholars who have obtained training on 400 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrophotometers. The training was given by Engr Wojciech Kosmider of Poland who visited the Centre for Nuclear and Molecular Studies in August.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Disaster Preparedness and Management has become the only centre in South Asia to offer degree programme in disaster management.

Admissions in the four years BS degree programme in disaster management have been completed and enrollment of students in the two years MSc programme would soon be completed.