Radiotherapy services have been suspended at the new radiotherapy unit of the Apeksha Hospital in Maharagama due to a cooling system air leak in three Elekta Compact radiotherapy machines.
The suspension, which began on Wednesday (27) afternoon, has affected about 220 patients who receive daily radiation treatment.
Hospital sources describe the situation as serious.
It is reported that the three machines frequently break down due to the lack of a generator and damage caused by animals such as rats and civets, leading to interruptions in patient care.
These intermittent disruptions have caused the waiting list for treatment to grow to between three and six months.
Unlike other medical treatments, radiotherapy must be administered daily for a specific number of days once it begins. Interruptions can cause a cancer patient’s condition to worsen.
The hospital has reportedly faced these issues since the machines were installed in 2020, and the Ministry of Health has not paid adequate attention to the problem.
Of the five linear accelerator machines at the hospital, only one is currently operational.
The Varian linear accelerator has been non-operational since last year, and now the three Elekta Compact machines have also been affected.
The cost of a single course of radiotherapy in the private sector can range from 500,000 to Rs.1.5 million.
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