Expensive linear accelerator at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, worth $ 4 million and able to treat up to 80 cancer patients a day, broke down due to unbelievably stupid reason – see what it was.
Cancer machine at LUTH worth $ 4 million and able to treat from cancer up to 80 people a day broke down due to a very dull reason. Photo: The Nation
The linear accelerator providing cancer treatment at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) has been down for three weeks. It could give treatment to 1680 patients suffering from cancer during that period of time as it could normally serve up to 80 patients a day, requiring x-ray therapy.
Linear accelerator is a machine, delivering high-energy x-rays able to destroy cancer tissue. Up to date there has been only eight such devices in the whole country, only three of them in working condition.
With the breakdown of the machine at LUTH only two of linear accelerators are left functional in Nigeria.
The reason for damage of a linear accelerator at the LUTH is the use of adulterated diesel on it.
A source at the hospital informed the press that “the suppliers [of the linear accelerator] said power must not be cut off from it while in operation. So, LUTH got two generators to power it. It was not connected to the central power. So, when the adulterated diesel was poured, the generators started tripping off, and then went off finally.”
Now the cost of repairing the accelerator costs at least N18 million. The patients paid for the treatment up to N8 million a month in total.
A month ago The Association of Resident Doctors, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Idi-Araba, Lagos have embarked on a three days warning strike over the management’s skipping policy for doctors.
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