Radiotherapy services at the Uganda Cancer Institute remain on halt following the breakdown of the country’s only cobalt 60 radiotherapy machine procured last year from the Czech Republic. 
Dr Jackson Orem, the executive director of the Uganda Cancer Institute announced last week that the $815,000 radiotherapy machine had recorded a software error.
 
According to the institute, a software problem stopped the machine from being able to rotate. Though the machine can still function, a decision to halt treatment was made to avoid any further damage.
 
“The machine as it is can still treat someone but it cannot rotate because one of the arms was affected. So we decided to stop the machine instead of continuing to use it the way that it was.” said Orem. 

As a result, patients in dire need of the service have remained stranded for more than a week. But Dr Orem said in an interview that technicians are working around the clock to ensure that the problem is rectified as soon as possible.
 
Dr Orem says that they are hopeful that the machine will be functional next week.

 
“For now we are not sure whether the cable that was sent will work. So to be on the safe side, we hope to be open for business next week but we cannot say for sure.”

Radiotherapy treatment is commonly used in the treatment of breast and cervical cancer at the institute. 85 cancer patients according to UCI are still awaiting treatment since last week. Dr Orem believes that the machine got the problem due to the high number of patients that are in need of a radiotherapy machine. 

 
“This machine can treat up to 158 patients a day. Most places have two machines but we have only had one, so we use it on a daily basis and it is not given enough time to rest.” he added. 

Dr Orem earlier said the department registers more than 7,000 new cases every year with revisits estimated at between 34,000 and 37,000 cases. 

Morocco with a population like Uganda’s has 80-plus cobalt 60 radiotherapy machines bought through their national cancer plan. It is reported that the Moroccan government sets aside over $80 million every year to buy cancer treatment machines.

The cobalt 60 replaced the old cancer machine donated by China in 1995 which broke down in March, 2016. This left about 2,000 patients without proper cancer treatment.