Mintu Abdur Rahman, Rangpur :
Sufferings of the cancer patients have mounted, as the only Cobalt-60 machine for radiotherapy treatment at Rangpur Medical College Hospital (RMCH) has remained out of order for over one year.
According to sources purchased in 1997, the machine went out of order in March 2015. As a result the 16- bed Oncology Department of RMCH has remained closed for year, causing sufferings to hundreds of cancer patients of the region. Especially the poor patients are the worst sufferers, sources further said.
It is alleged that most of the cancer patients, who come to the RMCH, are poor. They do not have the ability to afford the expensive treatment in the private hospitals.
Abed Ali 50, a cancer patient of Nabdiganj village at Pirgachha upazila in Rangpur said he has completed chemotherapy and presently is waiting for the machine to be repaired. He said he was asked to go to Dhaka for radiotherapy but he cannot afford to go there, he also said.
Like Abed Ali many other patients suffering from cancer in Rangpur and its neighbouring districts including Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari and Kurigram expressed their apprehension that they would not be able to get treatment because of the inoperative machine.
They urged the concerned authority to take necessary initiative to ensure proper treatment for the poor cancer patients at Rangpur Medical College Hospital.
Earlier, at least 60 to 65 patients visited the department every day but presently there is no patient admitted there as radiotherapy cannot be done, said Associate Professor of Oncology Department at RMCH, Dr. Swapon Kumar Nath.
A cancer patient needs Tk 5,000 to Tk 10,000 to undergo month-long radiotherapy treatment at a government hospital, whereas private hospitals charge around Tk 1 lakh to Tk 1 lakh fifty thousand for the same purpose, he also said.
Director of RMCH Dr. Abu Saleh Mohammad Barkotullah said they have already informed the concerned ministry of the matter but no step has been taken so far in this regard.##
Sufferings of the cancer patients have mounted, as the only Cobalt-60 machine for radiotherapy treatment at Rangpur Medical College Hospital (RMCH) has remained out of order for over one year.
According to sources purchased in 1997, the machine went out of order in March 2015. As a result the 16- bed Oncology Department of RMCH has remained closed for year, causing sufferings to hundreds of cancer patients of the region. Especially the poor patients are the worst sufferers, sources further said.
It is alleged that most of the cancer patients, who come to the RMCH, are poor. They do not have the ability to afford the expensive treatment in the private hospitals.
Abed Ali 50, a cancer patient of Nabdiganj village at Pirgachha upazila in Rangpur said he has completed chemotherapy and presently is waiting for the machine to be repaired. He said he was asked to go to Dhaka for radiotherapy but he cannot afford to go there, he also said.
Like Abed Ali many other patients suffering from cancer in Rangpur and its neighbouring districts including Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari and Kurigram expressed their apprehension that they would not be able to get treatment because of the inoperative machine.
They urged the concerned authority to take necessary initiative to ensure proper treatment for the poor cancer patients at Rangpur Medical College Hospital.
Earlier, at least 60 to 65 patients visited the department every day but presently there is no patient admitted there as radiotherapy cannot be done, said Associate Professor of Oncology Department at RMCH, Dr. Swapon Kumar Nath.
A cancer patient needs Tk 5,000 to Tk 10,000 to undergo month-long radiotherapy treatment at a government hospital, whereas private hospitals charge around Tk 1 lakh to Tk 1 lakh fifty thousand for the same purpose, he also said.
Director of RMCH Dr. Abu Saleh Mohammad Barkotullah said they have already informed the concerned ministry of the matter but no step has been taken so far in this regard.##
