Relief for patients as machine is repaired

Radiotherapy services at the Kenyatta National Hospital will resume on Monday after one of the two machines that had broken down was repaired.

This comes after an intense three-day campaign by the Nation, highlighting the plight of the many cancer patients whose treatment was halted after the only two machines broke down on Monday.

KNH Acting Chief Executive Officer Simeon Monda said on Friday the machine is now functioning.

SOME ADJUSTMENTS

“We are doing some adjustments to ensure the over 156 patients who were undergoing treatment by the time the machines broke down, resume their therapy,” he said.

“Our staff will work beyond their scheduled time to clear the backlog. Over 1,300 patients are on the waiting list with appointments stretching to as far as May 2017.”

He said the Nairobi Hospital had agreed to provide radiotherapy services to some of the patients. The first batch of ten patients will start their sessions on Monday.

“We are also happy that the government through the Ministry of Health has procured a Linear Accelerator, Linac machine at a cost of Sh194million to enhance treatment in the hospital” Dr Monda said.

A linear accelerator is used for external beam radiation treatment for cancer patients. It is used to treat all organs of the body by delivering high-energy x-rays to the region of the patient’s tumour.

Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said the ministry is also in talks with the Aga Khan and MP Shah hospitals to treat cancer patients free of charge.

Patients can also get treatment including chemotherapy and surgery at all level 4 and level 5 hospitals in Kenya.

“The ministry has invested in several prevention and control strategies among them, vaccination against Human Papilloma Virus, HPV and Hepatitis B,” he said.

RELIEF

Mr Monda did not state the fate of the other machine. However, resumption of radiotherapy is a relief to thousands of patients who cannot afford costs in private hospitals.

KNH is the only public hospital offering cancer treatment yet it has only two radiotherapy machines which are overworked.

The hospital has been turning away patients. Those who had not started treatment were told to wait.

The Health ministry, on Wednesday, said a third cancer machine would soon be installed by end of May.

A single radiotherapy session at the largest referral facility in East Africa costs Sh500 compared to between Sh5,000 and Sh10,000 at private hospitals.

An estimated 40,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed in Kenya every year out of which 27,000 die possibly due to inadequate treatment.