Régions

General Hospital :Radiotherapy Machine Absolutely Needed

Par LIENGU ETAKA ESONG
22 août 2024 12:50
0 Likes

Frequent machine breakdown causes patients sometimes to wait for months for treatment.

Cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy at the Douala General Hospital have appealed to the authorities concerned to intervene by repairing or acquiring new machines to ensure that their treatment is effective. As the Douala General Hospital is the only public hospital with the only radiotherapy machine for cancer treatment, frequent breakdowns and repairs to the machines sometimes mean that patients have to wait 3-4 months without treatment.
The President of the Association of Cancer Patients Receiving Treatment at the Douala General Hospital, Bertine Guidioum, said waiting for months is deadly and they sometimes develop other complications as a result of the long wait. The lady, expressing herself during the Public Health Minister on August 8, also pleaded for a reduction in the price of cancer treatment, saying the high cost sometimes affects their treatment as they are often unable to afford it.
Meanwhile, the Director General of the Douala General Hospital, Prof Henry Namme Luma, told CT that the radiotherapy machine at the hospital is old, leading to frequent breakdowns. He added that the hospital needed a new machine to keep up with modern cancer treatment methods. "The new one we are asking for is not just the cobalt, the older method of treatment, but we need a machine that treats with more precision. This is called a linear accelerator," he explained. The Director General was aware that the linear accelerator is an expensive piece of equipment that requires the construction of a bunker, so he pleaded with the government to intervene and rescue the lives of patients at the hospital.