Ocean Road Cancer Institute kuanza kutumia "PET scan" kuanzia January 2020. Hii ni Historia ingine inaandikwa Africa, ni Hospitali pekee ya serikali yenye mashina hii ya kisasa kabisa duniani, huduma ni bure kwa watanzania wasio na BIMA ya Afya. Kwa wakenya gharama ni sawa na 20% ya gharama mbazolipishwa hapo Nairobi Hospital, karibuni sana majirani.
pia kuna hili umesahau baba
Radiotherapy equipment at ORCI first in Africa’
ippmedia.com/en/news/‘radiotherapy-equipment-orci-first-africa’
March 30, 2019
30
Mar 2019
Henry Mwangonde
DAR ES SALAAM
News
The Guardian
‘Radiotherapy equipment at ORCI first in Africa’
EQUIPMENT for improved cancer care and treatment costing 9.5bn/- were launched at the Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI) in Dar es Salaam, making Tanzania the first country to install such equipment in Africa.
Ocean Road Cancer Institute managing director Dr Julius Maiselage (2nd-L - foreground, gesturing) briefs Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan shortly after the inauguration of a cancer treatment building and two modern radiotherapy machines at the Dar es Salaam-based medical facility yesterday. Photo: VPO
Speaking at the launch of the Linear Accelerator (LINAC) and CT Simulator, Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan said plans are underway to install such equipment in all referral hospitals in the country so as to strengthen service provision and reduce congestion at the ORCI.
The VP said cancer can be overcome if Tanzanians can develop the habit of checking their health frequently.
She said a report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in September last year showed that Tanzania had 42,060 cancer patients while 28,610 patients die every year.
“The problem is that almost 75 per cent of the patients come here when the disease has reached its last stages hence making efforts to treat and cure it complicated,” she said.
Given the fact that 80-percent of cancer patients in Tanzania need radiotherapy, the government decided to strengthen the availability of the services in the country, she pointed out.
The installation of the machines will save 7.5bn/- per year and serve close to 300 patients who were being referred to India for treatment, with a single patient spending over 50m/- in those referrals.
The VP however cautioned that centres to offer the services must be inspected thoroughly to ensure the quality levels needed are reached, as well as ensuring that no one takes the opportunity to sell cancer drugs at a high price because the drugs already cost too high.
Ummy Mwalimu, the Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Children and Elderly, said in her remarks that in 2015, ORCI and Bugando Hospital in Mwanza were seeing 8200 patients, equivalent to 19.6percent of all patients in the county.
Three years down the line, after improvements about 13,400 patients were attended to in the two facilities along with the Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) and the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC), equivalent to 31.9prcent of all patients.
The minister said this situation rose from long distances and poor quality of services caused by congestion and the time spent to receive the services.
She was happy that the government had increased funding for availability of cancer drugs at ORCI and MNH from 790m/- in 2015/16 to 7bn/- in 2016/17 and in the following year.
The level of availability of the drugs for 2015/16 was only four percent at ORCI which raised concerns, but in February 2019 availability had increased to 92 percent for exempted drugs while availability of other drugs was 95 by October last year.
Jean-Luc Devleeschauwer, the president of Oncology Systems for Varian Medical Systems based in the United States, which installed the machines, said Tanzania will be the first country have such machines in Africa.
“With such machines Tanzania is set to have a future with people without fear of cancer,” he told the gathering.
