"Radiotherapy service has been halted months ago in our hospital," Dr Swayam Prakash Pandit, director at the hospital, said. He informed that the radioisotope (cobalt 60) at the hospital installed in 2002 had expired in 2013. The hospital, however, had been using the date-expired technology until the beginning of 2015. Since early 2015, the service has been halted at the hospital.
"We have informed the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) about the stoppage of service in the lack of radioisotope," Dr Pandit said. He complained about the "utter indifference" of the concerned officials of the MoHP and MoF to the plight of the cancer patients.
According to director Pandit, hundreds of cancer patients who reach Bir Hospital for the service have been compelled to return without medications. With the lack of services at Bir Hospital, patients have to go Bharatpur Hospital in Chitwan or Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital for the service. Bir Hospital used to provide free radiotherapy to patients for poor economic backgrounds.
"A lot of patients who have been getting free services from our hospital are forced to pay now," said Dr Pandit. He said that the hospital does not have resources to buy new radioisotope.
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