A looming health crisis has arisen at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital due to the malfunction of the single cancer treatment machine. On the 4th of July, 2024, patients who had appointments for their treatments were denied access as oncologists urgently sought engineers to rectify the situation.
Both men and women, along with children, some of whom had journeyed from various regions of the country seeking treatment, are now left without the vital care they require. Among them is a breast cancer patient who was referred from the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC).
“I started this journey about two years ago, treating breast cancer at the University of Ghana Medical Center. I initially did surgery at the UGMC, but after a recurrence, I was referred to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for chemotherapy and radiation therapy,” Sandra told JoyNews in a telephone interview. “I was scheduled to start my treatment here at Korle Bu. But when I arrived, I was told that the machine had broken down. That was a month ago. I was rescheduled for last Thursday to start my radiation therapy. I managed to receive treatment on Thursday and Friday, and I was supposed to continue from Monday, every working day, for 16 days, but that has been a big challenge.
Today marks one week, and I’ve only completed two sessions. As I speak, I am returning from Korle Bu, the machine has broken down again. I couldn’t receive my treatment. I’m not just speaking for myself; there are many women in the queue waiting.”
Professor Joel Yarney, the esteemed Head of the Oncology Department at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, officially relayed the current circumstances to Fred Smith, who holds the esteemed position of Head of the JoyNews Health Desk.
Yarney elaborated that Ghana is in possession of only two such advanced machines, one housed at Korle Bu in the bustling city of Accra, and the other situated at the prestigious Komfo Anokye in the city of Kumasi – both of which are recognized as the nation’s premier referral centers.
Recently, the oncologists at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital made the decision to halt their services in protest of the prolonged delays in repairing the cancer treatment machine at their esteemed institution.
This particular predicament, combined with the surge in cancer diagnoses across Ghana, has further agravated the challenges faced by Korle Bu. Consequently, numerous patients are compelled to journey from various regions of the country and seek accommodation in hotels as they await their crucial treatments.
“We used to have just a handful of cases per day at our facility. These days, we are seeing an increase in the number of cancer cases in the country, and the resources to deal with it are simply not there. We are now dealing with up to 60 cases per day, so that sort of pressure on a single machine will cause it to break down,” Prof Yarney told JoyNews.
The expenses associated with the repair and upkeep of such machinery is expensive, worsening the situation. Sandra’s situation shows the grave repercussions of the machine’s unreliability.
“The question is, how effective will this treatment be if the machine keeps breaking down?” she asked, voicing the concerns of many patients who fear that their treatment may lose its potency due to these constant disruptions.
