Three sources of cobalt teletherapy machines at Rajshahi, Sylhet and Rangpur medical college hospitals require replacement when nearly half of the life of the sources has expired.

Some officials pointed out the quoted price of the cobalt sources to be imported from China by a local agent, Mardel Agency, is almost the same as the price of the machines purchased in 1994.

Each cobalt source is costing the national exchequer about Tk one crore whereas a new improved full unit of the machine with almost twice the radiation dose capability costs about Tk 4 crore.

A senior official seeking anonymity said, "an underhand deal led to rejection of the experts' views."

Leading cancer specialists including the Radiation Safety and Control director of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) officially stated that six Chinese teletherapy machines including those three procured in 1994 are 'not worth operating' as they remained almost 'non-functional' ever since their installation in 1999.

Another machine could not even be installed because of technical faults.

At a meeting on March 10 last year, the experts said performance of the machines was 'very poor'. They recommended purchase of new improved machines instead of replacing the sources.

They also pointed out that during the last couple of years, the machines broke down several times and there was no prompt response from the supplier for emergency repair and other support services.

The heads of radiotherapy departments of five medical college hospitals, where the Chinese machines were installed as well as health ministry and health directorate officials opposed further use of the machines and suggested buying more efficient and user-friendly teletherapy machines.

This correspondent obtained official documents that contained these suggestions.

The six cobalt therapy machines bought from Shanghai, China, were installed in 1999 in five medical college hospitals and the National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital (NICRH).

Asked about this, the official dealing with the purchase of the sources, Dr Md Sarwar Bari of the health ministry said, "A technical committee approved purchase of the sources. In fact, the government is compelled to buy the sources from the same supplier as we have a 10-year after-sales service contract with the supplier."

Dr Mahtab Kamal Siddiquee of the central medical store depot (CMSD), who is in-charge of instrument salvage and maintenance division, said, "We want new improved technology like linear accelerator. The government has decided not to purchase any more cobalt teletherapy machine. We have issued work order for supply of the cobalt source as per recommendation of the BAEC."