Skopje, 19 February 2025 (MIA) — The only PET scan center within the public health care system, which has been closed in the past three weeks for maintenance of the HEPA filters that had not been replaced in a decade, will reopen Monday, University Institute for Positron Emission Tomography director Nevena Manevska told MIA.

"The HEPA filters in the PET scan center had not been replaced in ten years. Because they were clogged, and the wrong filters had been ordered, we needed to procure the right ones," Manevska said.

She said more PET scans than usual would be scheduled for next month to make up for the temporary closure.

According to Manevska, there had been a waitlist of 700 patients when she took over the post of director.

"Since I have been in office, the appointments have doubled," she said, adding that this had made the waitlist shorter.

According to the Ministry of Health in a statement for MIA, replacing the HEPA filters in the PET scan center was necessary.

Also, the statement said, "the waitlist has been cut by half" since Manevska took over.

Earlier on Wednesday, SDSM said the only PET scan center in the public health care system had been closed for a month, forcing patients to pay out of pocket for expensive PET scans at private hospitals.

SDSM demanded responsibility from Manevska and Minister of Health Arben Taravari. mr/