OVER 60 cancer patients have been turned away from the Katutura Intermediate Hospital and the Windhoek Central Hospital over the past two weeks after the two radiation machines at the institutions broke down.
Known as the cobalt-60, the radiation machine produces gamma rays used to kill cancer cells in patients with ovarian cancer, small cell lung cancer, skin lesions and skin cancer, among others.
Health permanent secretary Ben Nangombe yesterday confirmed that the machines had broken down, and said they will be repaired by the end of this week. Simultaneously, the CT scanner at the Windhoek Central Hospital also broke down, while the X-ray department at the Katutura Intermediate Hospital was shut due to a defective printer as doctors could not make any proper diagnosis.
During a visit by yesterday afternoon, staff at the central hospital said patients were being referred to private facilities such as the Namibian Oncology Centre. At Katutura, staff said they had no idea when the X-ray machines would be repaired, but added that efforts were being made to assist emergency patients with CT scans only.
Nangombe said the ministry has made plans to fly in a technician from South Africa to repair the machines.
The ministry is also expected to fly in spare parts from the neighbouring country.
He said they did not want to take the risk of reading X-rays which are not printed properly, so patients are being sent to the central hospital instead.
Furthermore, the government is working on leasing equipment and machines, instead of having to buy them as this is expensive. The maintenance of the machines is also very costly, especially once the maintenance plans run out, he said.
“We want to avoid this by going into a programme where we lease machines from the manufacturers, and they have a proper maintenance plan, repair when necessary, and/or provide replacement or standby machines. The current situation is what we want to do away with because we cannot allow patients to suffer like this,” stressed Nangombe.
A nurse at the central hospital said patients were indeed suffering, as over 60 of them need treatment. According to the nurse, some have approached the Namibia Oncology Centre to seek treatment, while those who cannot afford private services or are not on medical aid were forced to go back home unassisted.
The Namibia Oncology Centre’;s manager Anthea van Wyk yesterday said they have not received any formal communication asking them to take in state cancer patients yet. One of her staff members, however, confirmed that some patients had come to the centre, and paid for services out of their pockets.
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