GUWAHATI, May 17 ? The cancer patients of Assam as well as the other States of the North East India are facing problems as two important machines of the B Barooah Cancer Institute have stopped functioning. The machines ? Linear Accelerator and Cobalt machine used for radiation on cancer cells, have been inoperative causing severe hardships for the patients in the region. It is learnt that the Linear Accelerator has been closed down by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) for its failure to satisfy certain mandatory guidelines while the Cobalt machine has been out of order for the last one month due to technical problem.
The Linear Accelerator was installed during March 2001 with the financial support of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the North Eastern Council (NEC) in view of increasing cancer patients in the region. But, the machine has been inoperative since May 14 leading to a serious problem. According to official sources, the Linear Accelerator was closed down by the AERB after a brief inspection as it failed to fulfil certain norms. ?The service could be restored only after beam energy verification and output measurement of the machine?, they said. The sources further revealed that it would take sometime to restore the machine. On the otherhand, the Cobalt machine has developed technical problem which will require some funds to repair it. They further revealed that in view of prevailing problem, the institute has been providing radiation to about 35 to 40 patients on an average. ?Considering the gravity of the situation, we have requested the Government to take an urgent steps in this regard,? they added.
Meanwhile the cancer patients of Manipur and Mizoram, who are undergoing treatment at the hospital are in dire straits due to prevailing situation. They told this reporter that the patients have been deprived of radiation due to problem in the machines. ?We cannot spend more time here due to our financial problem and hence the authorities should initiate an urgent step,? the patients said. It may be recalled that the Health Minister, Dr Bhumidhar Barman yesterday claimed at a press conference that he had laid emphasis on the rural health sector particularly for the poor people. But, the poor cancer patients of the B Barooah Institute are yet to get proper attention from the Health department.