Pakistan elected IAEA Board of Governors member

Pakistan has been elected as a member of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the 21st time since becoming an agency member. 

“The honour reflects Pakistan’s active participation in the visionary initiatives of the IAEA,” stated a press release issued by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.

The newly elected Board members’ names were announced prior to the 68 General Conference, set to be held on September 23.

Pakistan was one of the eleven countries in the BoG alongside Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, Italy, Luxembourg, Georgia, Ghana, Morocco, Thailand and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

The 35 members of the agency will meet on September 23 to elect its officers.

Addressing the meeting, Chairman PAEC Dr Raja Ali Raza Anwar said, “It is, indeed, a great pleasure for me to address a community, which is keen to adopt nuclear science and technology for socio-economic uplift of their countries.”

“Pakistan enjoys a longstanding and mutually beneficial partnership with the IAEA,” he added.

According to Raza, nuclear technology in the health sector is a priority of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. 

PAEC has established 19 cancer hospitals countrywide, with 380 highly trained nuclear Physicians, Radiotherapists, Oncologists, and medical physicians.

The PAEC hospitals were taking around 80 percent of cancer cases, catering to over 40,000 cases per annum, with 1 million follow-up cases.

“Currently, the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission is contributing to ten out of seventeen sustainable development goals using nuclear science and technology,” Raza informed.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General IAEA, recalled his tour to NORI Hospital of Islamabad and appreciated the country’s efforts of using atomic energy in the health sector.