An advanced nuclear medicine facility was officially opened at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital (SBAH), a clinical training site for the University of Pretoria’s faculty of health sciences, in South Africa’s capital on 21 May.
According to government news agency SAnews, the Nuclear Medicine Research Infrastructure (NuMeRI) facility is the first of its kind in Africa – a ‘one-stop-shop’ that will, not only advance drug development and clinical research, but also provide cutting-edge diagnostics and treatment in relation to cancer, tuberculosis (TB) and other major diseases that are burdening public health.
NuMeRI brings together “consolidated expertise in nuclear technologies in medicine and biosciences, creating significant research, development and innovation capacity in South Africa”, the agency said in a statement.
‘Magnificent’ facility
Speaking to University World News on the sidelines of a joint meeting between the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), Professor Themba Mosia, Interim Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria (UP), said the facility is “magnificent” and “a flagship for the use of nuclear for good”.
Nuclear medicine employs small amounts of radioactive material combined with a carrier molecule in the body to see how organs or tissue are functioning to diagnose diseases more easily. It then selectively targets and treats the diseased area in the body with molecular precision, sparing healthy adjacent cells.
Milestone
South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, who opened the facility, told guests it is a product of long-standing cooperation between South Africa and the European Union (EU) dating back to 2012.
Under this agreement, the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) collaborated with the EU to develop the South African Research Infrastructure Roadmap (SARIR), a strategic framework guiding investment in research infrastructure in the country.
NuMeRI is one of 13 research infrastructure facilities established by the DSI in terms of SARIR. To ensure efficient governance and management, its two main partners, UP and SBAH, established the NuMeRI not-for-profit company.
iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences (iThemba LABS) and the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa), are also partners in this initiative. NuMeRI has a cyclotron for producing isotopes used in radiation therapy.
The first phase of NuMeRI, incubated and hosted at Necsa between 2016 and 2019, was made possible by a DSI investment of close to ZAR150 million (about US$8.1 million).
The second phase, at SBAH, started in the 2020-21 financial year with an investment of approximately ZAR390 million.
UP received an additional ZAR85 million for the NuMeRI building.
Mosia said UP was “delighted to be in this dynamic and robust partnership” in its “quest to improve the health and well-being of people”. UP is one of the largest contact and residential universities in South Africa, and a productive research institution.
Human capacity development
It is anticipated that NuMeRI will boost the output of both clinical and basic science PhDs. To date, 20 masters and 15 PhD students who conducted research at the facility have graduated, with a further 17 masters and 22 PhD studies in the pipeline.
NuMeRI enhances South African research in medicinal chemistry. It is open to all researchers who will benefit from imaging in their product development.
The facility is set to expedite the development of drugs to address national priority diseases such as cancer and TB, enabling new pharmaceuticals to reach the market sooner, and giving South African pharmaceutical development a competitive edge.
“It will assist in taking bio-innovations further down the value chain from radiolabelling to preclinical testing. It will also contribute to good manufacturing practices and clinical trials,” Nzimande said.
In addition, NuMeRI’s capabilities will contribute to the precision medicine approach and targeted personalised therapies being developed in South Africa.
Disease burden
The South African National Cancer Registry ([url/https://www.nicd.ac.za/centres/national-cancer-registry/]NCR[/url]) reported that more than 85,000 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in 2019. And, according to Statistics South Africa, cancer was the sixth-leading cause of death in the country in 2021.
South Africa is also classified among the top 30 countries with the highest prevalence of TB globally, according to the World Health Organization. In 2022, an estimated 301,000 new TB cases were reported in the country.
Speaking at the launch, Professor Mike Sathekge, the head of both NuMeRI and the Department of Nuclear Medicine at UP, emphasised the importance of accurate imaging and assessment, and the role that these play in curbing cases of misdiagnosis and cancer-related fatalities.
He described the wide gap that exists between high- and low-income countries when it comes to accessing such facilities as “scandalous”.
“That is what NuMeRI wants to change. If you have such wide disparities and high numbers of people in low-income countries who can’t access this technology, you’ll forever misdiagnose patients and you won’t be able to potentially save millions of lives,” he said.
Early detection
Dr Lehlohonolo Majake, CEO of the Steve Biko Academic Hospital, said early detection is the cornerstone of effective treatment.
“By finding diseases early, we can intervene in time and significantly improve treatment outcomes and save lives,” she said, adding that the hospital is “honoured and proud to provide the site for NuMeRI, not only for our patients but for the community at large”.
SBAH, previously known as the Pretoria Academic Hospital, was renamed in 2008 after Steve Biko, the founder of the Black Consciousness Movement. He enrolled in medical school at the University of Natal (since incorporated into the University of KwaZulu-Natal) in 1966 but was expelled in 1972 due to his involvement in anti-apartheid activism.
Nuclear medicine
The South African government, through the DSI, has expressed a commitment to expanding nuclear medicine infrastructure in the country.
While NuMeRI stands out as a flagship facility for nuclear medicine research and development in South Africa, there are other notable centres contributing to the field in the country. This includes iThemba LABS near Somerset-West, and the Western Cape Academic PET-CT (Positron Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography) Centre at Tygerberg Hospital, the primary clinical training site for Stellenbosch University’s faculty of medicine and health sciences.
Besides Steve Biko and Tygerberg, several other academic hospitals in South Africa have nuclear medicine departments offering clinical services and participating in research. This includes Groote Schuur in Cape Town and Charlotte Maxeke in Johannesburg.
While these facilities might not match the comprehensive range of services offered by NuMeRI, they play a vital role in providing nuclear medicine services, training professionals and contributing to research initiatives within their specific areas of expertise.
This indicates a positive trajectory for the future of nuclear medicine in South Africa.
University World News
