The hospital, time and again, has been asked to not use their Radiotherapy equipment by the Atomic Energy regulatory Board (AERB) for not complying with the safety guidelines.
While many hospitals in Delhi suffer from lack of equipment and machines, Safdarjung Hospital is finding it difficult to get rid of their old radiotherapy machine. With a Cobalt 60 machine not functional since 2009, the hospital, with difficulty, has awarded a tender for the disposal of the machine that contains radioactive material.
The hospital, time and again, has been asked to not use their Radiotherapy equipment by the Atomic Energy regulatory Board (AERB) for not complying with the safety guidelines. The machine which has not been in use for more than eight years has a harmful radioactive material -Cobalt 60, which is used in cancer treatment and needs proper disposal.
“We have given a tender for Rs 8,00,000 for the machine to be taken in safe containers to Kota, where scientists from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre will confirm the status and provide a quote for it to be sent to the Canadian company where the nuclear radiator was built,” said Doctor Anil K Rai, Medical Superintendent, Safdarjung Hospital.
Apart from the disposal of this machine, the hospital is running on only one radiotherapy machine due to the absence of RSOs (Radiation Safety Officers).
As per the AERB guidelines, each machine should have one RSO with it, but due to lack of officers, some of the machines are not functional. The Brachytherapy radiotherapy machine has also been non-functional for around the same time as Cobalt 60.
“We have interviews for RSOs early next week, hopefully, the other machine will get functional soon,” Rai added.
Analysis
None of the hospitals in the city have an incinerator to dispose of radioactive substances, while they all are using similar equipment.
Despite the increase in the rush at the cancer hospitals, there has been a delay in acquiring new machines and recruiting RSOs.
AERB keeps shutting these departments for not complying with the guidelines, causing serious problems to the patients. There is around five lakh deaths due to delayed cancer treatment every year.
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