Cancer patients at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital are facing long delays and suspended appointments due to the hospital's only radiotherapy machine struggling with high demand.

The machine, which frequently breaks down, was recently fixed but still operates at a reduced capacity, significantly limiting the number of daily treatment sessions.

Eight-year-old Joshua, who is undergoing his 33rd cancer treatment session, shared his experience with with the media, explaining that "I feel pain." He has requested help from former President John Mahama for his treatment fees and hopes to return to school soon.

Joshua is one of the few receiving treatment. Many other patients have been told to wait for scheduling, with appointments for those needing more than six sessions currently paused. The hospital's oncologists are waiting for extensive maintenance for the radiotherapy machine, which is currently running but limited to just 10 sessions per day.

Professor Joel Yarney, head of the Oncology Department at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, acknowledged the difficulties, stating,

“They have worked on the machine and somehow they were able to get it back on line, but when it stays on for a few hours then the problem resurfaces, so then management has taken a decision that as a stop-gap measure we are treating patients who have about five to 10 treatments left.” he said

Professor Joel Yarney said “We should pay attention to Non-Communicable Diseases and cancer in particular."

The Minority in Parliament has urged Health Minister Dr. Bernard Oko Boye to tackle the issues related to the hospital's dependence on a single radiotherapy machine, which has repeatedly fallen short in serving cancer patients' needs.

Dr. Mark-Kurt Nawane, Deputy Ranking Member of the Health Committee in Parliament, emphasised the urgency, stating, “We aim to raise this issue today, and if necessary, invite the Health Minister to Parliament early next week for a comprehensive explanation, to come to the floor of parliament and explain what is happening, repairs and it breaks down, obviously it will break down, because if you are getting 50% a day to use single machine, that is too much, I mean human beings, even break down, how much more machines,” he added.