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Varian Medical Systems, world leader in radiotherapy equipment and products, has been selected to supply four linear accelerators to public hospitals in Bangladesh as the country's government embarks on a radical upgrade of cancer treatment capabilities.
Three of the Clinac(R) linear accelerators will be installed at the National Institute of Cancer Research Hospital (NICRH) in Dhaka and the fourth cancer treatment machine is for the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Up to now, there have only been two accelerators in the whole country, one at a Ministry of Defence hospital and one at a private center, both of them more than 10 years old.
Varian Medical Systems, Inc. of Palo Alto, California is the world's leading supplier of equipment and software for treating cancer.
"Bangladesh is a developing country and many of our people are poor, but there is a growing awareness of modern cancer treatments and many people have had to go to neighbouring countries such as India for treatment," said Dr. Farhad Haleem, project director at the NICRH.
"These modern treatment machines will enable us to deliver more effective treatments to our patients," he added.
He said that the three new linear accelerators at the NICRH will make it possible for his hospital to begin treating cancers with modern external beam radiotherapy. Up to now, the NICRH has had to deliver radiotherapy treatments using dated cobalt machines that have limited capabilities.
"With the cobalt machines we have had to be very careful about skin reaction and we have not been able to effectively treat deep-seated tumors. Now, we will be able to treat cancers such as lung tumors and pelvic tumors while sparing surrounding healthy tissue from damage," he added.
Fritz Derrer, regional sales director with Varian Medical Systems, said, "The Bangladesh government is striving to offer the best treatments for its cancer patients. It has acquired the most sophisticated treatment machines and systems available as it moves towards giving a country of 140 million people the cancer treatment infrastructure it requires. We are delighted to be working closely with the government on this important project."
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