Cancer treatment services at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital and the National Cancer Institute, Apeksha Hospital in Maharagama have been severely affected due to breakdowns of linear accelerator (LINAC) machines, issues with a newly installed computed tomography (CT) simulator and shortages of Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) drugs.
More than 130 cancer patients are facing disruptions to radiation treatment each day following LINAC machine failures at the two hospitals.
Speaking to The Daily Morning, President of the Government Radiological Technologists’ Association Chanaka Dharmawickrama said the LINAC machine at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital, which is used to provide radiation therapy, has been out of operation since Monday (3), resulting in the suspension of treatment for nearly 60 patients daily.
He said patients from Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Badulla, Matara, Monaragala and several other areas had been referred to the Batticaloa Hospital for treatment and are now facing severe difficulties due to the breakdown.
Dharmawickrama noted that radiation therapy is usually administered over a period of five to 35 days and that interruptions during treatment could have serious consequences for cancer patients.
He added that patients seeking similar treatment at private hospitals would have to spend between Rs. 500,000 and Rs. 2 million, placing a significant financial burden on many families.
He further claimed that one of the four LINAC machines at Maharagama’s Apeksha Hospital, the country’s main cancer treatment centre, has also been out of service since 30 July.
According to him, the machine was treating more than 75 patients a day, and its breakdown has completely disrupted treatment for those patients.
Dharmawickrama said the issue at Maharagama was caused by a failure in the air-conditioning system of the building housing the machine. He warned that brachytherapy machines, which provide radiation treatment for cervical cancer patients and are located in the same building, had also been affected.
He claimed that brachytherapy services have been suspended since 2 August as a result.
He said only three LINAC machines are currently operational at Maharagama and warned that these too remain vulnerable due to the absence of a backup generator to ensure an uninterrupted power supply.
He cautioned that another power failure could result in further disruptions to cancer treatment services.
Meanwhile, informed sources at Apeksha Hospital told The Daily Morning that a recently installed CT simulator could not be used as it did not meet the required specifications.
The sources said the hospital’s previous CT simulator had been condemned and replaced with a new unit. However, they claimed that the newly installed machine was not compatible with the required specifications, preventing it from being used for patient simulation procedures.
As a result, oncologists are currently required to use the hospital’s positron emission tomography (PET) scanner for simulation procedures when it is not being used for patient scans, creating further challenges in delivering cancer treatment services.
The sources also said the situation has been worsened by a shortage of G-CSF, a medicine prescribed after chemotherapy to stimulate the production of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell that helps protect patients against infections.
Attempts to contact the medical administrators of Batticaloa Teaching Hospital and Apeksha Hospital for comment were unsuccessful. Attempts to contact the Deputy Director General of the Medical Supplies Division also failed.