Irina Hecht: Chelyabinsk Region develops nuclear medicine in collaboration with Rosatom

Today the studio of Vestnik Kavkaza was by visited the deputy chairwoman of the Federation Council Committee on Agrarian, Food Policy and Environmental Management, a representative of the executive body of the Chelyabinsk region Irina Hecht. She spoke on the Tribune program about how nuclear medicine is being developed in partnership with the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom.

According to the senator, the Chelyabinsk region was at the origin of nuclear medicine in Russia, as a positron emission tomography apparatus appeared there for the first time on the basis of budgetary institutions that used the possibilities of nuclear development.

"Ability to conduct additional medical examinations will appear in Snezhinsk and they will be available not only to residents of the Chelyabinsk region, Yekaterinburg and Kurgan. We expect that the flow from neighboring regions will also use it. Moreover, there a so-called "neutron tube" in Snezhinsk. It is one of the two pieces of equipment in Russia (the second is in Tomsk) that allows malignant tumors to be treated and localization capabilities deployed very effectively, particularly in the thyroid gland and the brain. The problem is that we cannot certify that equipment, although its effectiveness is proved by a reduction in the duration of treatment by about 20-25% and an increase of survival time up to 3-5 years, even at a late stage. In accordance with Russian legislation, we need three devices, as it requires at three different hospitals in order to analyze their effects, but it is necessary to understand that this technique cannot be produced in larger quantities, because it does not have analogues,'' the senator said.

In this connection, a proposal to amend the legislation was prepared in order to stipulate special conditions for the certification of such equipment associated with nuclear technology. "The thing is that it is an entirely different story, which is beyond the principles of certification of conventional equipment. There is also a proposal related to a company in Snezhinsk producing radiopharmaceuticals, super short living isotopes, which can treat not only cancer, but also diagnose neurological and cardiological diseases. It is a new period of medicine, so it is necessary to change the licensing system of medicine,'' the deputy chairwoman of the Federation Council Committee on Agrarian, Food Policy and Environmental Management said.

Also, the Chelyabinsk region strives to implement the project of the Center of ion-proton therapy jointly with the State Corporation Rosatom. "This is a unique technology, which allows us to influence deep tumor localization on the basis of the split core without damaging healthy organs and tissues. It is being implemented in accordance with Vladimir Putin's message to the Federal Assembly,in which he underlined the need for the extension and implementation of high-tech medicine, as well as the creation of a federal component in order to ensure the opportunities for quality treatment for as many people as it possible," Irina Hecht said.

The representative of the executive body of the Chelyabinsk region in the Federation Council also added that the necessary staff have already been trained in the region.

"Doctors in the sphere of nuclear medicine are being trained in Ozersk. Now we have the necessary personnel, scientific base, and opportunities for the production of all isotope lines. Today, all of these features are created in the region, and we are able to provide all the necessary research and treatment,'' Irina Hecht concluded.