The government’s plan to reopen the Antigua and Barbuda Cancer Centre has been delayed due to challenges in removing outdated medical equipment.
Director of Communications in the Prime Minister’s Office, Maurice Merchant, said the process requires specialized professionals, which has taken longer than expected.
“It remains a priority to have the centre operational, because currently the government is funding patients’ treatment overseas,” he said.
Merchant confirmed that an agreement on the centre’s management is already in place, and work will move ahead once the old equipment is safely cleared.
Opened in 2009, the cancer centre was once a key regional facility offering radiation and oncology services. Operations slowed in recent years due to aging equipment and staffing issues, forcing many patients to seek care abroad.
The refurbishment is part of a wider effort to strengthen healthcare infrastructure and restore access to local cancer treatment. Merchant reaffirmed that reopening the facility remains a top government priority.
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I wish our reportes will stop calling it Antigua Cancer Centre. It was never Antigua’s to begin with and it certainly is not ours now.
Get your facts right and report facts.
One delay after the other. Hopefully it will be up soon
Five thoughtful questions that a concerned citizen might ask after reading this article — specifically looking at the point about maintenance and accountability:
1. Why was the Cancer Centre allowed to fall into disrepair in the first place, given its importance to national and regional healthcare?
2. What measures or best practices will be implemented to ensure proper maintenance and sustainability of the facility once it reopens, so that this situation doesn’t repeat itself?
3. How much funding has been allocated for the refurbishment and ongoing operation, and how will the government ensure transparency in the use of these funds?
4. What is the timeline for reopening, and what specific milestones must be completed before the centre becomes fully functional again?
5. Will the reopened centre offer the same range of oncology and radiation services as before, or will there be upgrades and new technologies to improve patient care?
#concernedcitizen Natasha E Bramwell
With the escalations of cancers in the country, this clinic should have been prioritised to reopen as soon as possible. We have a Health Minister who goes missing when the going always gets tough.
Yet at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic you couldn’t keep him away from the media airwaves.
Never forget that he allowed the distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccine to continue here in Antigua when it was correctly banned by the makers in the UK. Fact!
Molwyn Joseph has a lot to answer for to the citizens of Antigua & Barbuda, and he should be nowhere near this important position as Health Minister. But we know these duplicitous politicians will NEVER admit when they’ve made MAJOR blunders.
Awful, awful set ah people dem. The trust in them is well and truly broken. More facts!
Ask Gatson Browne and co what they did with the alledged $40mil they got from the Alpha?
Look at Gatson Brownes track record, and you will see that this great finance minister do not spend money on anything that’s not making him money personally.
The man only cares about his pockets, so helping poor people get their health back hasn never being his concern.
This man is a transactional P.M If he’s not getting anything out of the deal, he’s not interested. He would spend a bunch of money on other places where he knows there is some kind of return for him..why you think roads stayed the way they are so long, because it’s taking money out his bankroll, and this grabby grabby PM doesn’t like that one not.
So keep waiting you fools. He would spend a bunch of money bringing in parking meters before spending money on some cancer center,because he knows that will bring in a bunch of money for him. Cancer center and hospitals are not money makers for him, because he’s no doctor, and it’s only doctors that will make big money from the government treating the patients.
You people just can’t see what’s right in you’ll faces.
#CHANCEPARENCY_MATTERS!
#transparency_matters, NOT!
@Natasha..:well reasoned thoughts!
Jumbee_Picknee aka Ras Smood
De’ole Dutty Peg🦶🏿Garrat_Bastard
Vere Edwards
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