INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Kathmandu, January 15
Bir Hospital is yet to instal a tomotherapy machine purchased in 2018 for Rs 400 million.
Protracted delay in
installing the machine has deprived thousands of cancer patients of service.
The machine was purchased by the hospital after its cobalt
machine, which was used to provide radiation therapy for cancer patients, stopped working.
The hospital has stopped providing radiation
therapy for the past four years forcing thousands of cancer patients to visit private hospitals, according to Dr Bibek Acharya, head of
department of clinical oncology at Bir Hospital
The new machine was bought considering the increasing number of cancer patients at the hospital.
&The new machine needs a proper place for
It should be placed in a bunker covering wide space
We will use the same room, where the old machine was kept to install the new machine as we don&t have extra space
There has been a problem in disposing the old machine
The machine should be disposed in the same country from where it was purchased
The process for its disposal has begun
We will be sending the machine to Germany,& said Dr Kedar Century, director at Bir Hospital.
The new machine is currently kept at Nepal
Armed Police Force Hospital, Balambu, according to Dr Century.
&Renovation of the room meant for its installation is ongoing.
It will take
another four months to install the new machine,& said Dr Century.
Tomotherapy is a type of radiation therapy
The process combines treatment planning, CT image-guided patient positioning and treatment delivery into one integrated system.
Tomotherapy
uses a single rotating beam of radiation.
With a single radiation beam, the highest possible dose of radiation is sent directly to the
It allows physicians to adjust the radiation beam to precisely target the tumour of patient.
&The machine is helpful to treat cancer of
It also helps in preventing damage of tissues,& said Dr Acharya.
It is estimated that 30,000 cancer cases are diagnosed in the country every
Of the total cancer patients, 16,000 need radiation therapy, according to Dr Acharya.
The post Protracted delay in installing tomotherapy
machine at Bir Hospital hits cancer patients appeared first on The Himalayan Times.
