The Old Tafo Youth Development Organisation has donated eight cancer treatment accessories to the Department of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). 

The accessories worth about £28,000 will support the hospital in the effective and efficient treatment of cancer cases.

Chief medical physicist at the oncology directorate, Dr Eric Addison says the accessories would help reduce the burden at the facility. 

The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital currently has two radiotherapy machines; cobalt 60 teletherapy and linear Accelerator.

The cobalt 60 machine is very old and faulty, leaving the linear accelerator to do the work.

The machine often breaks down and cancer patients are left stranded as their conditions deteriorate.

Linear Accelerator is a confiscated machine that uses high energy X-ray to target and destroy cancer cells within patients.

It positions and stabilizes patients during radiation treatment so that cancer cells could be accurately targeted. 

The average number of patients treated at the facility is 30 per day.  

Specialists come to work early and close late to be able to serve every patient. 

Sometimes, when both pieces of equipment fail, patients have to wait until they are fixed.

Chief medical physicist, Dr. Eric Addison, told JoyNews the donation of the 4 breast boards and 4 wing board accessories brings great relief to the hospital.

"These are high-level breast board and wing steps. We need them to treat our patients."

Dr. Addison said the facility has been trying to acquire the accessories but to no avail. The donation, therefore, came at the right time.

The breast board is used for breast cancer treatments, while the wing boards are for lungs, chest and abdominal cancer treatments. 

Thanks to the efforts of Nazir Ali Tchelenon, a former senior radiotherapist at Singleton Hospital in Wales, the accessories were released to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. 

"This is the last we are donating to the hospital. I hope to do more because of the challenges the facility faces." Nazir says.

Trustee of the Old Tafo Youth Development Organisation, Alhaji Seidu Chipsah noted that it was necessary for the organization to donate the items to KATH because of its proximity to Tafo.  

Alhaji Chipsah said he has benefitted so much from the hospital and therefore there was the need to equip it.

The wing steps donated are the first at the centre and will go a long way to help in the accurate setup and precise delivery of radiation to cancer patients.

Authorities at the oncology department look forward to similar donations to strengthen the facility.