JPMC to install second PET-CT scanner as free cancer scans outgrow single machine

Karachi’s Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) is to get a second digital PET-CT scanner, with hospital officials saying the new machine should be in place by next year and nearly double the number of free scans the hospital can carry out.

One machine, 897 patients waiting
Professor Dr Tariq Mahmood, who heads the hospital’s Cyberknife and Tomotherapy Department, told Dawn that 897 patients are currently on the waiting list. They include people who need a baseline scan before treatment begins and others whose response to chemotherapy has to be checked midway through treatment. The new unit will cost around $2 million, and a fundraising campaign for its purchase has already begun, he said.

Ten days out of order left patients stranded
The hospital’s existing scanner recently broke down and stayed out of service for at least ten days, adding to the hardship of patients who cannot afford the expensive test at a private hospital. Engineers have since fixed the fault, and 22 scans were carried out on Friday. Dr Mahmood described the PET-CT as a highly complex machine, using isotopes that are very sensitive to humidity.

Patients travel to Karachi from across the country
JPMC is the only centre in Pakistan where a PET-CT scan is offered completely free of charge, regardless of a patient’s nationality, religion or financial means. Patients travel from Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, where no free service exists. Fewer than 2,000 scans a year were done until 2023; the figure rose to 2,810 in 2024 and 3,831 in 2025, with a target of around 3,800 for 2026. Dr Mahmood said a second scanner would make 7,000 free scans a year possible by financial year 2027-28, adding that similar facilities should be set up in other provinces so patients do not have to travel so far for treatment.