Radiotherapy centre at HIMS put to disuse with no staff

HASSAN: A radiation therapy centre for treatment of cancer at the Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences (HIMS), has remained unopened with no staff appointed so far. The centre was opened 16 years ago and was functioning well till 2019.

After Covid-19 struck, the radiation therapy centre has remained unused. The centre boasts of hi-tech equipment like the Babatron-3I telecobalt therapy machine. The government has sanctioned Rs 18.25 crore to upgrade the radiotherapy centre with linear and brachytherapy equipment and Rs 5 crore has already been released.

With the head of the radiotherapy centre, Dr Ravikiran having reportedly resigned, it lacks an associate professor, assistant professor, a senior resident radiation oncology MD. Senior citizens have raised concern over the lack of staff and appealed to the government to fill up the vacancies at the earliest.

The director of HIMS said the Babatron-3I machine licence has to be renewed and said they hope that it will be done by March. “By March-end, we hope to resume radiotherapy. There is no proposal to shift the unit to Mysuru, these are just rumours. We will be upgrading the facilities here”.