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Cobalt 60 at MKCG needs replacement

BERHAMPUR: The radioactive material in the Cobalt 60 machine in the Department of Radiotherapy and Radio-isotopes in the MKCG Medical College and Hospital in the city is yet to be replaced although its half life is already over.

It is the only centre in south Orissa where cancer patients get radiotherapy at low prices. Each exposure to radio therapy costs Rs. 30 here. According to the Arun Kumar Dandapat, head of the department a cancer patient may have to undergo 30 exposures, which would cost Rs. 900. The same treatment at any private hospital would costs more than Rs. 50,000. But the State Government seems to have forgotten to make proper maintenance of the machine that is the base of radio therapy at this centre. The center started functioning from 1978 with a manual machine. In 1998 a Cobalt 60 machine was installed here to provide cancer treatment through gamma radiation. The half life of radioactive material Cobalt 60 is around 5.7 years. He says it can provide ample radiation for treatment till eight years. But the radioactive material is being used for a long time. With the completion of half life, the gamma radiation from Cobalt 60 starts to reduce. Though it can be used for treatment, the time of exposure has to be more. The patients have to wait longer to get radiation here. He also adds that after half life the Cobalt 60 starts producing scattered radiation which can increase the scope of side effects of radiation on the cancer patients coming for treatment. Every day around 70 cancer patients are coming to the centre to get treated by radiation. The new stock of Cobalt 60 for the machine can be acquired from the BARC, Mumbai at cost around Rs. 37 lakh. Mr. Dandapata has also urged the State Government to provide a brachy therapy machine and a simulator to the centre.

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