ULS Algarve, ABC and Loulé acquire PET-TAC equipment so desperately needed
The Algarve will stop sending cancer patients outside the region in 2026.
The announcement was made at a joint conference between the Algarve Local Health Unit (ULS), Loulé town council and ABC – the Algarve Biomedical Centre.
Following the failure of the Oncology Reference Centre of the South (CORS) project, the three entities explain they have come together to provide a rapid and effective response to the Algarve population, focusing on the only equipment that is not yet available in the region for the diagnosis and comprehensive treatment of cancer patients, namely a PET-TAC.
This solution, found between the three entities, will guarantee a complete oncological response in the region – minimising current and future ambulance journeys for patients who are often “with some degree of weakness”.
The new equipment will be sited on land being made available by Loulé municipality in Rua Humberto Pacheco, right next to the ABC Medical Genetics Laboratory.
The municipality has also committed to supporting the national contribution to complement the funds available under the Algarve 2030 Programme.
The facilities and equipment represent an investment of around €3.5 million euros, 60% of which will be funded by the Algarve Operational Programme (OP) and the remaining 40% by Loulé town council.
ULS Algarve guarantees with its Academic Centre (ABC) that all conditions will be met to carry out all PET-TACs required in the Algarve and is committed to applying for the CCDR-Algarve tender, which is open until the end of March.
“We’re working hand in hand for the Algarve, we’re partners in research and knowledge,’ said Tiago Botelho, president of the ULS Algarve, thanking the Loulé City Council and the ABC – Algarve Biomedical Centre for their support.
ABC is contributing its know-how through the partnership established with the Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), which will enable the PET-TAC to be put into operation and guarantee its functioning by hiring human resources and providing radiopharmaceuticals.
The joint press release adds that completion of this project does not preclude the building of a new Central Algarve Hospital (a plan in the wings for some years now), which (when it finally happens) will also include an oncology unit and second PET-TAC.
Right now, around 2,000 patients living in the Algarve are sent every year for PET scans in Lisbon and/or Seville. Chemotherapy treatments are supplied by both Faro and Portimão hospitals, radiotherapy through the Algarve Oncology Association and Nuclear Medicine at Portimão hospital.
