Cancer treatment

IT is frustrating to observe from the outside, that so many of us who studied conventional science through our universities and in position of authority have not put in place the applied policies and relevant laws with regulations, on the use of atomic and nuclear energy for specific intervention into needy areas of health and agriculture in our country.
There is always negative connotations from layman’s understanding on the harmful effects on the environment and its habitat in regards to effects of radiation when accidents do occur on large reactors.
What’s more relevant here is the policy, law and regulation on the use of Cobalt-60 for radiotherapy cancer treatment and also for food irradiation treatment and other industrial use.
It requires isolated facilities with approved international standards to be erected and put into use for the benefit of the people of this country.
In brief the radiation process takes effect when the cobalt-60 decays into a stable nickel-60 isotope producing two wavelengths of high-energy gamma rays (g-rays).
For a cancer patient, the g-rays are passed or applied on the cancerous spots and it destroys the cells. It is encouraging to note that the Health Department is in the advance stage of installing a new cobalt treatment for cancer patients.
As for the export market for fruits and root crops, the same principle applies where pallets of horticulture produce and root crops are passed through the irradiation treatment room for 2-4 hours.
All pests such as fruit flies, eggs and larvae are killed and contents purified of any living organisms. It costs about K50 million to set up a similar facility like Steritech Industries in Brisbane.
If PNG is dreaming of being a food bowl of the Asia Pacific region, it has to invest in those facilities in Lae and Port Moresby.
Once PNG has such facility, Australia and New Zealand will have a very good reason to reject root crops, banana or mangoes.

Observer
NCD