THE Government is to find $28 million to pay for private radiotheraphy treatment for cancer patients because the cobalt unit at the State-owned Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) has broken down.

The unit, which failed two weeks ago, leaving 55 patients without treatment, will be out for another two weeks, newly sworn Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson confirmed to the Observer yesterday.

Dr Ferguson said that following consultations with the chairman of the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) Tanny Shirley, Chief Medical Officer Dr Eva Lewis-Fuller, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Dr Jean Dixon and the sole physicist employed to the Government along with a number of other persons two days ago, the decision was taken to seek private care for the cancer patients.

“The cobalt is a problem, the compressor is a problem, and we have made contact with a Canadian manufacturer and the compressor is being ordered,” said Dr Ferguson. “The expectation is that it should be built within the next two weeks, and once we receive that compressor we should be able to continue the treatment with the present cobalt, even as we await the new one (cobalt) that is to come.

“In the meantime, we are making some arrangements for the 30 patients who were on treatment and another 25 who were to come on stream for somewhere in the region of $28 million to be facilitated in terms of a public-private arrangement. So, arrangements are being made as we speak between SERHA and the private practitioner,” the health minister said.

“A treatment regime could run up to $1.5 million under normal circumstances for a cancer patient,” Dr Ferguson added.

A 2007 Health Sector Task Force commissioned by former health minister under the previous Jamaica Labour Party Government Rudyard Spencer, and chaired by Dr Winston Davidson had found that the “the public sector continues to use outdated cobalt radiotherapy units at the Kingston Public Hospital and Cornwall Regional Hospital”.

The task force was mandated to undertake a comprehensive review and evaluation of the regional health authorities and their related entities, with recommendations on the way forward to a cost-effective, comprehensive and sustainable health care delivery system for Jamaica in the 21st century.