X-ray of nuclear medicine in Colombia: Insufficient coverage delays diagnosis and treatment

By: Paola Plazas

Press Advisor

Strict regulation in Colombia widens the gap in diagnosis and access to treatments in the country, affecting the quality of life of patients.

In Colombia, nuclear medicine service units are concentrated in major cities such as Bogotá with 21, followed by Cali and Barranquilla with 9 each, Medellín with 6, Cartagena and Bucaramanga with 4 each.

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While medium and small cities have a more limited coverage. For example, Ibagué has 3 units and cities such as Pasto, Montería, Cúcuta, Manizales, Pereira and Armenia have 2 each, while Santa Marta, Popayán, Tunja, Valledupar, Villavicencio, Envigado, Neiva, Palmira, Soacha and Faca only have 1 unit each.

Approximately 67% of nuclear medicine service units are available in major cities. Intermediate cities only have 33%, highlighting a significant gap in the distribution of nuclear medicine services in the country, which still needs to cover 40% of the national territory.

Currently, care in nuclear medicine units in the country is being covered in 19 of the 32 departments, representing 60% of coverage, distributed as follows: Cundinamarca with 23 service units, followed by Valle del Cauca with 10 and Antioquia with 7. Atlántico, Bolívar, Santander, Tolima, Nariño, Córdoba, Norte de Santander, Caldas, Risaralda, Quindío, Magdalena, Cauca, Boyacá, Cesar, Meta and Huila with one unit. Departments that have approximately between 1 million and 8 million inhabitants.

On the other hand, nuclear medicine services are part of the functional cancer units in the country. For optimal cancer care, it is necessary to have specific radiopharmaceuticals, PET technology and rooms for radionuclide therapy. And, currently, it is only covered in 11 departments, equivalent to 34% of the territory.

“The inequality in the distribution of medical units and the lack of services in intermediate cities and rural areas limits the early diagnosis and treatment of serious diseases, especially in oncology (cancer), cardiology and neurology. In addition to the broad and strong regulation of nuclear medicine,” said Emperatriz Angarita, president of the Colombian Association of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging – ACMNIM

Adding that “The duration of travel to receive nuclear medicine treatment in Colombia can vary considerably depending on the location of the patient and the availability of nuclear medicine service units, which can affect the accessibility and frequency of treatments.”

A significant limitation that hinders the growth and expansion of nuclear medicine in Colombia is the complexity of its regulation. This specialty requires the coordination of multiple entities, including DIAN, INVIMA and the Colombian Geological Service, for the safe importation and handling of radioactive materials, which can delay the development of new facilities and services.

Likewise, the opening and operation of nuclear medicine facilities entails complying with strict regulatory requirements, from permits from the Geological Service to certifications of good practices for the preparation of Radiopharmaceuticals by INVIMA, and specific authorizations related to hospitals.

The global theragnostics market, which integrates diagnosis and treatment, is growing worldwide and is expected to increase by 13% by 2032. Additionally, the radiopharmaceuticals market has experienced significant growth due to the transition of oncology therapies towards metabolic radiotherapy and radiotherapy with nuclear medicine. Currently, 53% of new drugs in development are focused on cancer treatment.

This highlights the importance of nuclear medicine as a key specialty in the country’s healthcare. This specialty offers multiple benefits, including early and accurate diagnosis of diseases, allowing physicians to diagnose and plan treatments more accurately, especially in oncology, cardiology and neurology. Thanks to its continuous development and innovation in treatments, nuclear medicine not only contributes to significant advances in healthcare, but also underlines the need for its expansion in the country to improve the quality of life of patients.

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