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Hope for cancer healing as UCI starts using high precision radiotherapy machines
Doctors at Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) pose for a photo in front of one of the new radiotherapy machine which they started using on September 25, 2023. PHOTO/TONNY ABET
What you need to know:
- Currently, the cancer survival rate for adults in the country is at 20 per cent while children have a 50 per cent chance according to government data.
Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) on Monday started using two high-precision radiotherapy machines which have been procured at $8 million (Shs29.6 billion).
The true beam linear accelerators, each with the capacity to treat 90 patients daily, are an addition to one machine which has been in place, according to information from the specialists at the radiation therapy unit.
Speaking to journalists during a guided tour at the facility, UCI director Dr Jackson Orem said the machines will address delays in accessing treatment and reduce side effects of cancer treatment while maximising chances of healing.
“These machines are very precise. That means the cancers are going to be treated almost to the point and they disappear. There is going to be little side effects compared to what patients used to experience,” he said.
Currently, the cancer survival rate for adults in the country is at 20 per cent while children have a 50 per cent chance according to government data.
The UCI handles around 60,000 patients yearly with around 7,000 new cancer cases detected annually.
According to cancer specialists at UCI, the true beam radiotherapy system helps patients to heal in fewer sessions of about one to five compared to 20 to 40 sessions of the previous conventional radiation therapy. Treatment remains dependent upon the type of tumour suffered by the cancer patient.
Dr Orem said the next plan is to have such government-procured machines in several regions to decongest the institute in Kampala, and reduce the burden associated with travelling long distances for cancer treatment.
“Our care is to the level where we are using the best machines that you can get in the region at the most cost-effective price in that most of the patients are getting this treatment free of charge and even those who are for private treatment; can pay peanuts compared to patients in the other parts of the region,” he said.
