H.E. Dr. Mekdes Daba, Ethiopian Health Minister, announced on May 24 that Ethiopia plans to build five centers for radiation medicine, and wants to include the Black Lion Hospital and St Paul’s Millennium Medical College—both located in Addis Ababa—in a partnership with the China Atomic Energy Authority, reported Sputnik.
The development and use of nuclear medicine was discussed during a bilateral meeting of Ethiopia’s Health Ministry with the deputy chief of the China Atomic Energy Authority, Liu Jing, who commented that China is very interested in investment in nuclear and radiation medicine. In turn, numbers of Ethiopian doctors have travelled to China since 2025 for advanced training in medical imaging technology.
Several African nations are now involved with China in the development of their nuclear medicine capacities, including Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia, and many more aspire to incorporate such development.
Electricity generation, infrastructure and trained personnel are just a few of the obstacles facing many nations that want to advance their medical capacities. The other main issue is the cost of advanced medical equipment. One of the most advanced diagnostics in the field of nuclear medicine is the SPECT camera (Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography); when combined with a rotating gamma camera and a computer to detect radioactive tracers injected into the bloodstream, it can create detailed 3D images of internal organs, blood flow, and metabolic activity. The starting price for a SPECT camera is in the range of $400,000 to $600,000, currently out of reach for many African nations.