The caesium therapy unit at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), the only one of its kind in the country for treatment of patients having cancer cells or leukaemia, has been out of order for over a year.

As an alternative, doctors have been prescribing cobalt therapy

According to DMCH sources, out of the lour radio therapy units at the hospital, the cae sium unit has not been functioning since May last year as some equipment broke down while in operation

"Its replacement Is not pos sible now as the machine, man-

ufactured in the Sixties, is no longer available The German manufacturer of the machine no longer makes the out-dated device as they have introduced much advanced technology to treat cancer patients, ' said a senior doctor of the Radio Therapy section

"In fact caesium treatment Is not suggested any longer Throughout the world, doctors now prescribe cobalt treatment. We are planning to Install an other new cobalt machine which has already arrived from China and drop the idea of continuing with the caesium treatment, he added

The unit, however, has not been officially closed. Only the thick-walled therapy room remains closed. Some of the personnel who worked In the unit are now helping the cobalt therapy section.

Patients requiring caesium radiation are now being given cobalt therapy as an alternative. Eiroerts on radio therapy said cooalt therapy has more harmful effects. Cobalt doses are longer than caesium doses but do the same Job. Healthy functional tissue cells may be harmed due to such long exposures but all sorts of radiation have side effects some way or the other, they noted.

Caesium treatment is prescribed only when a patient has malignant or tumour cells detected at its early stage.

"The caesium unit uses external gamma rays or beams to diagnose malfunctioning car-cigenous cells,” a doctor said.

A patient is exposed to radiation between one and four minutes each time of exposure, depending on the size and other aspects of his tumours. The total time of exposure is normally "segmented in several days which can vary from three to 30 days '. About 35 patients on an average come to the DMCH for caesium therapy everyday.

The caesium machine was Installed in 1973. The life-span of the caesium capsule, which cost about Tk 40 lakh, is 30 years and it is still good for service.

There are two deep X-ray machines in the section, also used for similar purposes.

Meanwhile, the authorities are yet to decide what to do with the radio-active caesium capsule. "Disposing the capsule poses a major problem. It cannot simply be dumped wherever we like. It has to be disposed of safely, said a senior doctor.