The new cancer treatment machines are looked at as the game changers in Uganda’s cancer treatment series especially on the time spent on a single patient. The Uganda Cancer Institute –UCI acquired new cancer treatment machines in order to cater for the overwhelming numbers of patients.
The institute has always suffered with thousands of cancer patients from across the country, spending weeks in wards and corridors due to the sluggish speed of the treatment process. Net picture
The institute has now acquired four radiotherapy machines and one Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography-SPECT scan with a CT (Computed Tomography) scan. A SPECT scan is a type of nuclear medicine test that uses a radiotracer (a special contrast agent) that is injected through the vein directly into the cancer cells.
Dr Jackson Orem the UCI Managing Director said that each machine can take 15 to 18 minutes to work on a patient which increases the number of people who are worked on daily as opposed to the twelve hours to work on one patient in the previous arrangement.
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According to Orem, the government spent up to 30 billion shillings for the infrastructure (bunkers) where the machines are housed, and 39 billion shilling for the machines. He added that with these machines in place, Ugandans will not need to go overseas for cancer treatment, because what takes them there is just right here in their country.
“The purchase of new machines will make Uganda a center of excellence in the management and treatment of cancer in East and sub-Saharan Africa. It will also reduce the number of Ugandans who fly abroad for cancer treatment since Uganda has state-of-the-art machines.”
Dr Nixon Niyonzima the head of research and training at the UCI says that currently, the institute has 130 patient beds, yet the numbers are increasing now and then. However, Niyonzima adds that there are efforts to increase the institute’s bed capacity, saying that with the current investment in infrastructure development, they will have up to 365 beds in the next 18 months.
According to him, the developments at the Mulago UCI, are to be spread across the four regional cancer centers across the country, and by July one will be set for use, to ease the burden at the center. “In July this year, the Gulu cancer treatment center will be operational, and also seeking to operationalize other centers in Mbale, Mbarara, and Arua to ensure that 85 percent of the cancer patients in the country can access quality cancer care in those areas.” He explained.
Dr Israel Luutu, the head of clinical services at UCI, says that radiotherapy cancer treatment has not replaced the chemotherapy method, but for effectiveness, both modes are used to complement each other
According to Luutu, there is also an improvement in the chemotherapy treatment with targeted chemotherapy targeting only the cancer cells hence reducing the side effects and the patients heal faster combined.
“These two treatment modes and even more can be used concurrently to complement each other, and at the current rate of technological advancements in the world now, the previous fear of side effects after the chemotherapy treatments, has now been eliminated and people should not have any fears,” Luutu explained.