Saednews: Iran's nuclear medicine is a technological success story that has not only been saving the lives of more than a million patients a year, but has also enhanced the country's scientific and international standing.
Nuclear medicine is an advanced branch of medical science that utilizes the peaceful use of nuclear energy in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer and metabolic disorders.
It utilizes radioactive tracers to diagnose, stage, treat, and monitor diseases. The specialty also plays a crucial role in basic sciences like biology, drug discovery, and pre-clinical medicine.
Iran, which had no infrastructure or specialized personnel in nuclear medicine up until 1990, prides itself now on having more than 200 active centers which produce 90% of domestic needs.
The country has achieved the first rank in the region in providing nuclear medicine services. This remarkable progress amid the most severe sanctions has placed Iran among the exporters of radioactive drugs and regional leaders in the field.
Iran is recognized as a significant producer of radiopharmaceuticals, which are the mainstay of nuclear medicine. Some reports position the country among the top three or five global producers of radioisotopes.
Relying on local capabilities and domestic researchers, it produces a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals, from the widely used technetium-99m (Tc-99m) to iodine-131 and FDG.
FDG or fluorodeoxyglucose is a radiopharmaceutical used in PET (positron emission tomography) scans, which is specifically produced at the Shariati Hospital Nuclear Medicine Center in Tehran.
According to the hospital's website, a dedicated Radiopharmaceutical Production Department established at the center has been successfully producing FDG using a cyclotron. This allows Iran to meet the needs of several nuclear medicine centers equipped with PET machines.
Iranian researchers have also developed the capability to produce the Molybdenum-99 radioisotope, which is used to produce Tc-99m, from fission of uranium-235.
Each treatment session with some of these drugs costs several thousand dollars in the global market, but in Iran it is offered for a fraction of this amount.
Many radiopharmaceuticals, especially those used in PET scans, have very short half-lives. This means they decay significantly within a short period, reducing their effectiveness.
Consequently, the "last mile" of radiopharmaceutical delivery, including transport, is crucial for maintaining the drug's potency and safety.
Speaking to IRIB TV3 on Monday night, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami explained that importing radiopharmaceuticals were impossible until recently.
This was because Western countries refused to provide radiopharmaceuticals to Iran due to sanctions, while regional airlines such as Qatar Airways did not undertake such shipments, he said.
Eslami touched on the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR), a 5 MW pool-type reactor in operation since 1967.
The reactor - built by the US - used fuel with a very high concentration of fissile Uranium-235 up to 90%, which the Americans provided. Washington, however, stopped supplies after the facility was reconfigured to be fueled with 20% uranium fuel, he added.
“We produced it ourselves. Otherwise, we would not have been able to conduct any industrial research or produce radiopharmaceuticals,” Eslami said.
“A million people use our radiopharmaceuticals every year. Why should we endanger the health and lives of our people and succumb to arbitrary political pressures?” he added.
Iran has been producing uranium enriched to 20% and 60%. It has several facilities, including the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP), the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP), and the Fordow enrichment plant.
The enrichment program is a central point of contention in negotiations between Iran and other nations, with the US and its allies seeking to limit Iran's enrichment capacity.
President Masoud Pezeshkian, during a visit to a medical equipment exhibition in Tehran Tuesday, touched on achievements in many areas, from nuclear technology to other scientific and industrial fields.
“The enemies' efforts to prevent this process are nothing more than a fantasy," he said.
Official figures show the number of nuclear medicine centers in Iran has jumped from one in 1989 to about 250 in 2024. These centers operate in all 30 provinces of the country and their number is increasing.
The nuclear medicine industry is also a major employment generator, directly employing 4,500 specialists and projected to grow by 12 percent by 2027.
The Islamic Republic is currently not only self-sufficient in nuclear medicine, but it also exports radiopharmaceuticals to 15 countries around the world, including Egypt, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and some European countries.
These remarkable achievements would not have been possible without the development of nuclear technology.
Enrichment, production of vital isotopes, and training of human resources are all dependent on peaceful nuclear activities. If this infrastructure is disrupted, millions of Iranians will be deprived of vital medical services.
Today, the nuclear medicine sector is not only a strategic industry in meeting the health needs of society, but also an important economic engine, generating income, creating jobs, and reducing the country's foreign exchange dependence.
These achievements have been made while the country has been under the most severe international sanctions, which itself reflects Iran's scientific and technological prowess in this sensitive field.
