Cancer patients referred to the National Hospital, Abuja, from different parts of the country, especially from Northern Nigeria, have been stranded for four months following the breakdown of the only CT simulation machine in the hospital.
LEADERSHIP gathered that patients, who have received or are receiving additional courses of chemotherapy using I.V doxorubicin 90mg, V.I Cyclophosphamide 920mg and I.V docetaxel 120mg, are stranded because the CT simulation machine has not been working since January 2022.
Some of the patients are supposed to undergo External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) which is the most commonly used form of radiation oncology treatment and uses high-dose radiation to destroy cancerous cells or shrink tumors.
LEADERSHIP was gathered that during an EBRT procedure, a machine directs external beams of radiation into cancerous areas in the body with extreme precision.
Medical experts say if the ‘chemo’ treatment is completed in the patient’s body without further treatment using the CT simulator, it could lead to a repeat of the chemotherapy treatment that will further drain the strength of the patient and may lead to fatality.
CT simulators imaging data provide a complete 3-D view of the patient’s anatomy, allowing for more accurate delineation of the tumor and the surrounding normal tissues, and helping to determine the exact location, shape and size of the tumor to be treated.
The CT appointment which, under normal circumstances, takes one hour, but patients at the National Hospital, Abuja, have spent four months waiting for such treatment as a result of the malfunctioning of the machine which may put the lives of awaiting patients in danger.
During a visit to the National Hospital yesterday, it was revealed that patients had been coming, especially from the Northern part of the country, to the hospital since January but have not been treated as a result of the breakdown of the machine.
It was gathered that patients who paid for the CT simulation service are asking for a refund while others are being advised to move to Lagos, Enugu and Calabar in Cross River State.
Some of the stranded patients at the National Hospital told LEADERSHIP that the CT simulation machine is not the only critical equipment that has not been working for long, but others.
“Not only the CT machine, most of the scanning we were asked to do, we did them outside the hospital. Most of the equipment and the machines for cancer treatment are not working at the National Hospital,” a patient who gave her name as Nancy said.
Another patient said: “I’ve been coming to the National Hospital since January, 2022, and we are told the machine is not working. I’ve been spending money to come from Kaduna State and we are always being told the machine is not working.”
A medical doctor at the hospital confirmed to LEADERSHIP that the machine had not been working since January.
“The only place they can go to now is Lagos or Calabar. That of Enugu is working partially, so we are not advising patients to go there,” the medical doctor familiar with the matter said.
When contacted in his office, the public relations officer (PRO) of the National Hospital, Dr Tayo Haastrup, expressed shock at the development and promised to draw the attention of the chief medical director (CMD) of the hospital, Dr Jafaru Alunua Momoh, to the situation.
“You mean the machine is not working since January? I will inform the CMD about it,” Haastrup said.
Meanwhile, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have raised concern that the National Hospital, Abuja, which is supposed to be the model of medical service delivery in the country, has thrown cancer patients into apprehension.
According to the CSOs, there are offices at the National Hospital that are supposed to ensure a quick repair of the faulty machine but that corruption is throwing the Nigerian health sector into a bad state.
The CSOs who spoke to LEADERSHIP are: Transparency International (TI), Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).
Speaking through their leader, Awwal Musa Rafsanjani, the CSOs said what is happening in public hospitals is lack of commitment to the health care services as a result of corruption, incompetence and impunity in the way government runs it activities.
He said the public health sector in Nigeria shows a total lack of care for the ordinary people.
“The healthcare system in Nigeria has collapsed because of corruption, lack of efficiency and lack of discipline by those handling that sector.
“Citizens who are supposed to undergo this kind of treatment fast are now being treated this way. In a serious country, such patients cannot just be abandoned. You should not have a machine that is not working; you should not have a machine that is not functioning; in fact, you are not supposed to have only one machine in one hospital given the number of people that come from across the country, in particular, the 19 Northern states that are referred to the National Hospital, Abuja,” Rafsanjani said.
According to him, the inability of the National Hospital to ensure effective treatment of cancer patients shows that all the monies allocated to the health sector is not put at addressing the health challenges of Nigerians, especially the poor ones.
“Those who are supposed to fix the problem have accumulated so much wealth and, therefore, they and their families always go abroad for treatment, leaving the ordinary person to their fate. The money that is meant to install those machines and to maintain them are looted. And because of the extortion, if the patient doesn’t have money, they will simply tell that person the machines are not working.
“And if the machine is not working, there is a department that is supposed to ensure that the machine is fixed. But because people have bastardised the system, nobody cares. Such must be investigated.”
He said that it was expected that the outbreak of COVID would have helped the country to improve its health care services but that the federal government was only interested in a symbolic health care response.
“The kind of measures they put on COVID, if they had also ensured that our hospitals and health care system are working, we would have probably reduced the number of casualties we are experiencing,” Rafsanjani said, insisting that the present situation shows lack of commitment to the health care delivery.
We’ve got the edge. Get real-time reports, breaking scoops, and exclusive angles delivered straight to your phone. Don’t settle for stale news. Join LEADERSHIP NEWS on WhatsApp for 24/7 updates →
Join Our WhatsApp Channel
