Note to Editors: Attached please find a soundbite in English here by Madeleine Hicklin MPL.
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has revoked the licences for two linear accelerator (Linac) machines at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital due to a shortage of suitably qualified staff. This is a devastating blow for cancer patients who depend on the hospital for life-saving radiation treatment.
Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng has been reliably informed by sources who confirmed that this development will severely affect the hospital’s ability to provide nuclear and radiation therapy.
The DA will submit questions to Gauteng Health MEC Faith Mazibuko to confirm these concerns and establish what urgent steps she will take to address this inexcusable situation.
Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital has four linear accelerator machines, which deliver high-energy X-rays or electrons directly into tumours to treat cancer through external beam radiation therapy. The hospital also has two brachytherapy machines, which are used to treat prostate and cervical cancers. The Brachytherapy service is still operational, but the Linac service has effectively been halved.
The crisis at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital points to a wider failure by the department to ensure that cancer treatment infrastructure is fully operational across the province. Two years ago, Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital purchased two additional linac linear accelerator machines using a significant portion of the Gauteng Department of Health’s Capital Expenditure Budget (CAPEX). Yet, the bunkers needed to house these machines have still not been built, leaving expensive equipment in storage instead of being used to treat cancer patients.
Cancer treatment cannot be put on hold. Every day treatment is delayed because of a failure to appoint appropriately qualified staff; patients face the risk of their cancer progressing. This failure is unacceptable, as it denies patients access to essential care while leaving qualified healthcare professionals unemployed.
A DA-led Gauteng Provincial Government would ensure that hospitals are equipped to treat cancer patients with adequate staff, functioning equipment, and treatment protocols to provide timely and appropriate care.