By Daily Revelation Editor
Due to the broken radiation equipment at the Cancer Diseases Hospital (CDH) at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), patients seeking radiotherapy have been told to go to Tanzania for treatment.
UTH confirmed to Daily Revelation newspaper that the equipment at the country’s biggest hospital has not been working since December 2022, although information on the ground indicates that the machine stopped working as far back as June 2022.
As a result many have been placed on long waiting lists due to the non-functioning of this critical equipment used for the treatment of cancer patients in the country.
This example alone indicates the overreaching and critical problems affecting not just our country’s health sector but every sector of this country. To even think that such a critical machine has been down since last year at the country’s biggest referral hospital and the only cancer diseases center is beyond imagination. One wonders where the priorities are that such a situation has been allowed to persistent and cancer patients struggle with not just the pain, but the anxiety of having an impotent facility in the country that can’t do anything about their hopeless and depressing situation.
Such a national embarrassment and shame that a government could allow its own people to endure such pain. Sure even the Tanzanians we are referring our patients to must indeed question our sense of responsibility and sanity.
The Zambia Medical Association (ZMA) has indicated that they urged the UPND administration to consider a tax waiver on special equipment to enable private entities with capacity to invest in procuring the radiation machine to do so. Such should be on the most important to do list for the government, even without the reminder from ZMA.
One only wonders just when those on the waiting lists will receive their chance to nurse their pain enroute to Tanzania. In addition to this, is this terrible situation where some patients suffering from cancer and various other ailments are given appointments several months later to have their problems attended to. During that period, many people’s conditions just worsen and many die before their appointments are due.
Something seriously needs to be done in terms of health care. Many people are dying every day simply because of negligence of this highest order. If money can be found for by-elections and foreign trips, surely resources for a critical machine needed for saving lives can easily be arranged without this shame of going for over 10 months where the whole country doesn’t have even one radiation equipment.
We hope to hear concrete solutions to this as the government responds next Thursday to the point of order that was raised on the matter this week. We even wonder why more than a week should be accorded to the government to have to respond to this matter. Such business as usual type of operations that has infected state institutions in this country like a virus is the reason why Zambia doesn’t seem to progress. So depressing to say the least.
Such a national embarrassment.
Related
By Daily Revelation Editor
Due to the broken radiation equipment at the Cancer Diseases Hospital (CDH) at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), patients seeking radiotherapy have been told to go to Tanzania for treatment.
UTH confirmed to Daily Revelation newspaper that the equipment at the country’s biggest hospital has not been working since December 2022, although information on the ground indicates that the machine stopped working as far back as June 2022.
As a result many have been placed on long waiting lists due to the non-functioning of this critical equipment used for the treatment of cancer patients in the country.
This example alone indicates the overreaching and critical problems affecting not just our country’s health sector but every sector of this country. To even think that such a critical machine has been down since last year at the country’s biggest referral hospital and the only cancer diseases center is beyond imagination. One wonders where the priorities are that such a situation has been allowed to persistent and cancer patients struggle with not just the pain, but the anxiety of having an impotent facility in the country that can’t do anything about their hopeless and depressing situation.
Such a national embarrassment and shame that a government could allow its own people to endure such pain. Sure even the Tanzanians we are referring our patients to must indeed question our sense of responsibility and sanity.
The Zambia Medical Association (ZMA) has indicated that they urged the UPND administration to consider a tax waiver on special equipment to enable private entities with capacity to invest in procuring the radiation machine to do so. Such should be on the most important to do list for the government, even without the reminder from ZMA.
One only wonders just when those on the waiting lists will receive their chance to nurse their pain enroute to Tanzania. In addition to this, is this terrible situation where some patients suffering from cancer and various other ailments are given appointments several months later to have their problems attended to. During that period, many people’s conditions just worsen and many die before their appointments are due.
Something seriously needs to be done in terms of health care. Many people are dying every day simply because of negligence of this highest order. If money can be found for by-elections and foreign trips, surely resources for a critical machine needed for saving lives can easily be arranged without this shame of going for over 10 months where the whole country doesn’t have even one radiation equipment.
We hope to hear concrete solutions to this as the government responds next Thursday to the point of order that was raised on the matter this week. We even wonder why more than a week should be accorded to the government to have to respond to this matter. Such business as usual type of operations that has infected state institutions in this country like a virus is the reason why Zambia doesn’t seem to progress. So depressing to say the least.
Such a national embarrassment.
Related
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