PHNOM PENH, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Monday broke ground for the construction of the first-ever Cyclotron Medical Center Building here, aiming at providing more efficient diagnosis and treatment to patients, particularly cancer patients, the country's Health Minister Chheang Ra said.
The two-floor building, covering an area of 605 square meters, will be developed at the state-run Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia.
"It is the first project in the history of Cambodian medicine," he said at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Ra said the project was initiated by a team of Calmette Hospital's professors and specialists, consulting and cooperating with experts from Archetype, G.E. HealthCare Pte Ltd., and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"This project will provide great benefits to patients, especially cancer patients," he said.
According to the minister, the building will be equipped with a new state-of-the-art cyclotron that can produce radioactive drugs used to diagnose and treat cancer, heart disease, neurological disease, and infectious diseases, among others.
A kind of particle accelerator, the cyclotron is a key component in the integrated precision diagnosis and treatment solutions associated with nuclear medicine.
"This Cyclotron Medical Center will also have potential to produce additional radioactive drugs for distribution to hospitals or other centers that need and aim to modernize the diagnosis and treatment of diseases effectively in both Phnom Penh and provinces," Ra said. ■