Uganda gets a radiotherapy machine after the only one in the country broke two years ago
Dr Jackson Orem, director of the Uganda Cancer Institute, says about 5,000 cases are referred to the institute each year
Kampala — Uganda’s only radiotherapy machine was officially replaced on Friday, nearly two years after the previous one broke down, leaving the country without a crucial tool for treating cancer patients. The failure of the old machine in March 2016 caused a public outcry and was seen as symbolising the deterioration of Uganda’s medical services. Since 1995, Mulago Hospital in Kampala had become a hub for treating cancer patients across East Africa, many of them coming from countries lacking radiotherapy equipment. On Friday, Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda said the new $815,000 Cobalt-60 machine, housed in a concrete bunker at the hospital, was part of a "vision of becoming the East African centre of excellence in the management of oncology". Yukiya Amano, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which helped install the new machine, said Friday’s commissioning was a "major cause of celebration". The agency and the Ugandan government each paid half of the c...
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