Caesium units to be deployed in cancer fight next year
Ramsammy wants to ensure safe use
By Samantha Alleyne
Stabroek News
November 19, 2002
Two caesium units bought almost two years ago to treat cancer patients are not in operation as yet because the Ministry of Health wants to ensure their safe use.
The two units, one of which was bought with US$15,000 donated by the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), and the other by the government, arrived in Guyana in early 2001 and are being stored at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), according to Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy.
He said that it is expected that they would come into operation by mid next year.
The length of time being taken for the units to be put into service has been of some worry to the head of the medical committee of the CIOG, Dr M.Y. Bacchus and the organisation itself.
A source close to the organisation last week told this newspaper that because the unit is not yet in operation some donors have withheld funds from the CIOG. The source said it is hoped the units are operationalised soon.
Dr Bacchus last week told Stabroek News that the money was donated to the ministry by the CIOG on his advice and it was done during the tenure of then Minister of Health, Dr Henry Jeffrey. He said that while the CIOG was told that the unit was bought along with another one it has seen no evidence of this. He said that the CIOG has been depending on his guidance on the issue and now he is questioning if the units are indeed in the country and why they weren't in use as yet.
The radiation units are used for treating cervical cancer and cancer of the womb. According to the doctor, the CIOG had been told that the units had been bought but that there was need for a radiotherapy building for the units to operate from.
The doctor is of the opinion that the units could be used without a multi-million dollar building and pointed out that it will help to alleviate some of the suffering of the poor in the country. He noted that the rich would be able to travel to other countries for treatment but the poor would have to stay and suffer.
"All they need is somewhere safe to be stored and nothing else," the doctor said. He noted that in the 1970s radium was in use in the country but because it became so dangerous it had to be gotten rid up. The caesium units are safer.
The doctor added that the units do not need someone with years of training to operate since a person could be trained to use it in a short period.
But Ramsammy is in total disagreement with the doctor's view. When contacted, he told this newspaper that trained persons are needed to operate the units. According to the minister the equipment requires a physicist, a radiotherapy technician and an oncologist.
He said that while the Cubans have agreed to provide an oncologist and technician on a short-term basis they will not arrive in the country until next year.
He said that he has since employed a physicist, who recently graduated, but because that person does not have any working experience he would be sending her to Brazil early next year for a three-month stint in that country. The units were bought from England in 2000 but did not arrive in the country until 2001.
When it was put to the minister that it was felt the units could be operated by persons who do not have years of training, the minister said he did not agree. He countered that the same persons who might be advocating that the units be used without specially trained personnel "would criticise me for not doing it right."
"This is radioactivity and I just want to make sure that I do everything right," the minister said. He added that there is need for people to decide what dosage should be given to a patient. "I need people with experience, I would rather be over-cautious in this instance to be on the safe side," the minister said.
Ramsammy said that as minister of health he is sometimes willing to take risks to speed up the process but in this case the risks outweigh the need.
He noted that once the units are installed there is a certain safety standard that needs to be maintained and as a result they cannot just be set up in any building. Further, he said no company selling such units would do so unless they are assured that there is a proper building for the units to be installed.
According to Ramsammy, the building erected exceeds the requirement for the caesium units since it has also been built to house a cobalt machine.
He explained that after a patient is exposed to the caesium unit the next course of treatment would come from a cobalt machine. He said that the area where the cobalt machine will be housed has a solid concrete wall and ceiling about thirty inches thick, as is required. This machine is still to be bought.
