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QSUT purchased the cobalt device at the time the world decommissioned it

2024-06-27 13:54:00, Aktualitet CNA
QSUT purchased the cobalt device at the time the world decommissioned it
Illustrative photo

QSUT purchased the cobalt device for therapy of patients with malignant diseases in 2021, immediately after the Covid-19 Pandemic, but this therapy, which uses gamma rays produced by cobalt-60 to treat malignant tumors, has limited use in the modern world.

This technique was an important method in the history of radiotherapy after World War II, but today it has been replaced in most cases by more modern and sophisticated radiotherapy technologies, such as X-ray therapy and similar ionizing radiation therapy. . (The Global Role of Radiation Therapy in Cancer Management: Cobalt-60 Machines and Teletherapy).

The purchase of a device by QSUT that is going out of circulation and leaving it out of safety conditions indicates deep deficiencies in the administration and management of the largest hospital center in the country, according to experts.

From scientific studies there is a lot of data proving that keeping the equipment in unsafe conditions (concrete bunkers) causes great damage to the health of people who have long exposure near it.

Cobalt treatment was popular from the 1960s to the 1980s, but now this type of therapy is being used less and less due to technological advances. After cobalt equipment is decommissioned the waste has management costs due to the high level of radioactivity.

Studies on cancer treatment technologies show that gamma rays produced by cobalt-60 are limited in their intensity and shape. Compared to cobalt, modern technologies have great capabilities to change the intensity and orientation of the rays, making possible more precise and safer treatment.

Also, modern X-ray therapies and other technologies offer advanced opportunities to target and treat tumors more precisely, while minimizing damage to healthy tissue.

In some developed countries, there is still limited use of cobalt therapy in certain cases, especially where there is no easy access to more sophisticated technologies. However, the global trend is to move towards the use of more modern radiotherapy technologies for the treatment of malignant tumors.

Cobalt-60 therapy has had considerable use in some countries and regions in the past, but has been greatly reduced today due to developments in radiotherapy technologies. However, there are some places where some use of this technique can still be found.

There are several reasons why the use of cobalt therapy has declined. Unlike modern radiotherapy technologies, cobalt-therapy offers fewer opportunities to assign rays in different shapes and intensities, making it less effective in some cases.

Previous World Trade Organization inspections have found that Albania has significant shortages of medical equipment, which in most cases are old. Albania also has very few radiologists who are not able to use the technological innovations of science.

INVESTIGATIONS

A recent investigation by the prosecutor's office of Tirana, initiated by citizens' complaints, found that a cobalt-therapy apparatus was installed in the Oncology Hospital at QSUNT for the treatment of patients diagnosed with tumor diseases and especially skin cancer diseases.

Since 2021 when this device arrived in Albania and until today, it has not only not been used, but has been left in unsuitable conditions, becoming a source of danger to the medical personnel themselves as a result of the possible radiation emitted by this device .

In order to use cobalt therapy, an anti-radioactive or anti-atomic bunker must be created under the conditions approved and presented by the Vienna Atomic Agency or the International Agency, IEAHEA.

The investigations revealed that this bunker was not only not created, but the apparatus was placed outside the technical conditions./ Monitor magazine





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