The Nairobi west Hospital becomes the first clinic in the country and in West, Central, and East Africa to begin treating cancer patients using the Halcyon radiotherapy system.
The Halcyon system simplifies and enhances virtually every aspect of image-guided volumetric intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), including improved patient comfort and shortening the time from installation to first-treatment without sacrificing quality.
The system is well suited to treat a majority of cancer patients, offering advanced treatments for lung, prostate, breast, head and neck, and many other forms of cancer.
The Halcyon system features a streamlined workflow that only requires nine steps from the start to the end of treatment compared to up to more than 30 steps with older technologies thereby reducing the total treatment time.
“The installation and treatments on the Halcyon system is a major achievement for patients and cancer care delivery in Kenya and in the region,” Sukhmeet Sandhu, chief executive officer, The Nairobi West Hospital said in a statement issued in Nairobi on Tuesday.
“The streamlined workflow and the advanced capabilities of the Halcyon system will have a positive impact on the increased number of cancer patients we can treat every year,” he added.
According to the World Health Organization, Kenya has the highest number of cancer-related deaths across East Africa.
Cancer kills 32,987 Kenyans a year, an estimated 40 percent of the 83,426 deaths reported in the three East African countries of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, according to the latest WHO Globocan report that analyses new cases among men and women.
JK/as/APA