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The Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) has purchased advanced radiotherapy equipment worth $14.2 million, including radiation accelerators, a brachytherapy machine, and a SPECT CT machine. They have also built six bunkers to house the equipment. The UCI aims to train cancer specialists within Uganda, reducing the need for medical travel abroad. Starting in July, the UCI will offer comprehensive testing and treatment for all types of cancers, eliminating the need for Ugandans to travel to India. The institute plans to establish regional cancer centers in different districts of Uganda. The new equipment offers advanced features for precise radiation treatments, and the UCI intends to integrate chemotherapy with radiotherapy.

The Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) has purchased equipment that will prevent Ugandans from spending millions of shillings on medical travel overseas. The radiotherapy equipment is used to treat patients with the most up-to-date radiotherapy technology, providing them with precise and successful care.

Dr. Jackson Orem, executive director of UCI, stated that the equipment was purchased from the US for $14.2 million (or roughly sh53 billion). Four radiation accelerators, a high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy machine, and a SPECT CT machine are all included in the equipment.

Orem claimed that the government also built six bunkers at the UCI, where the machinery was set up for sh30b. He further mentioned that the institute is investing money in hiring and training experts to maintain the machinery. “We are training doctors now that we have the structure and equipment in place. We are going to train cancer specialists in Uganda in large numbers at a low cost,” he noted.

While unveiling some of the installed equipment at the UCI, Orem told journalists that starting July, the facility will be able to test and treat all types of cancers.

Many people who had to travel to India for nuclear medicine, according to Dr. Nixon Niyonzima, director of research and training at UCI, will no longer do so. “The Government has invested in construction. The institute has capacity of 130 beds, but in the next one-and-a-half years, we shall have a 350-bed hospital,” he said.

“We plan to have radiotherapy machines in each region within our regional cancer centers,” Orem said.

The centres are in Mbarara, Mbale, Gulu and Arua districts.

The true beam linear accelerator is a machine which rotates around the patient to deliver a prescribed radiation dose from any angle.

The SPECT CT machine, a combined scan, can provide precise information about how different body parts are working and identify problems.

While HDR brachytherapy is a form of internal radiation where a doctor inserts a small plastic tube to direct radioactive material to the cancerous cells for a short time. It is taken out using a remote and the tube is removed after the patient has finished the course of treatment.

Dr. Israel Luutu, the head of the radiotherapy department, noted that the radiotherapy treatment machines offer cutting-edge features including intensity-modulated radiotherapy and image-guided radiotherapy, which enable more precise radiation treatments.

According to Luutu, the devices enable exact radiation treatment planning, guaranteeing that patients receive safe and efficient care. He indicated that treatment would be integrated with the new technology.

“With this equipment, combined chemotherapy and radiation will be applied, which was not the case before,” Luutu said. He continued by saying that many cancers are treated according to criteria that mix radiation and chemotherapy for results that are equivalent to surgery.

He added that the local medical community will have access to these devices as well, giving them access to cutting-edge radiotherapy treatment choices. The treatment with the new technology will only take 18 minutes