Unit gets radiation specialist

ANGAU Memorial Hospital’s cancer unit has a radiation oncologist now, says Morobe health authority chief executive officer Dr Kipas Binga.
He said Lakshman Obeysekara was hired on a three-year contract as the technical person to operate the Cobalt-360.
Binga said having a specialist was one requirement closer to bringing in the much-needed Cobalt-source to re-start radiotherapy for cancer patients at Angau. “As part of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a requirement is to have technical people on the ground first,” he said.
“Having the radiation oncologist on campus (since December) should speed up the process for us.
“If everything goes well, we hope to get a medical physicist by the end of the first quarter of this year and only then, can we get the cobalt source.”
Binga said there were processes and protocols to follow before a radioactive equipment such as the cobalt source could enter the country – the first step was the Government’s passing the Radiation Safety and Control Regulation Act.