Hundreds of cancer patients arrive before dawn at Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital each day, but many must wait four to six weeks to begin radiotherapy as its machines operate at full capacity.
Детали события At around 5 a.m. on Oct. 6, the second branch of Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital in Thu Duc is already packed, with long lines of people waiting to get queue tokens to see the doctor.
The hospital has chairs, but there were not enough for all the visitors.
The facility receives 4,800 to 5,000 people every day, including about 700 for radiotherapy, with most coming from provinces and cities across the country.
The hospital has 10 radiotherapy machines working in three shifts, from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day.
For the machines to deliver their first radiation treatment at 5 a.m., technical staff must arrive between 3 and 4 a.m. to perform checks, measurements, and quality assurance procedures.
The radiotherapy department opens at 5 a.m., but half an hour earlier their seating areas and corridors are already crowded with patients waiting for treatment.
According to Dr. Diep Bao Tuan, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital, the 10 radiotherapy machines are running at full capacity and treating about 700 patients a day, but another 800-1,000 people remain on the waiting list.
Patients wait an average of four to six weeks for their turn.