QEH to get second cancer treatment machine in major expansion

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital will soon acquire a second linear accelerator for cancer treatment as part of a $313.6m expansion of the public general hospital, financed mainly through a loan from China Sinopharm International Cooperation, Senator Shantal Munro-Knight announced on Monday.

As the Senate approved two borrowing resolutions under the Special Loans Act, Senator Munro-Knight said the China Sinopharm loan would finance 80 per cent of the design and construction of two new QEH buildings, including an oncology centre, patient clinics and wards, a burns unit and laboratory facilities.

“Under this loan, we will actually have a state-of-the-art oncology centre that would have a second linear accelerator, to add to the one that was just recently established,” she said.

A linear accelerator uses high‑energy radiation beams to treat cancer by targeting tumours while sparing as much healthy tissue as possible.

Patients were already being treated using the first linear accelerator installed last month, the minister said, as she argued that the additional investment was essential. “Those who are more expert can speak to the seriousness of cancer in Barbados,” she said, adding that the new facilities would significantly expand the country’s capacity to treat patients on the island.

The Senate also approved borrowing of $100 million through two loans of approximately $50 million each from the OPEC Fund for International Development, aimed at strengthening social services. She explained that, unlike the China loan, which was project-specific, the OPEC Fund loans were policy-based and would allow the government to apply funds across the social sector based on identified needs.

Senator Munro-Knight said the resolutions reflected the reality facing small developing states and defended the government’s approach to borrowing, arguing that social investment was unavoidable. “How do small and developing states seek to finance development, finance the critical needs of its citizens?” she asked, stressing that development went beyond infrastructure to ensuring adequate funding for education, healthcare and food security.

The minister in the prime minister’s office with responsibility for culture said Barbados could not depend on the private sector to shoulder major social investment, telling lawmakers: “We do not have a large private sector,” and arguing that such reliance was unrealistic for a small open economy. She insisted government borrowing had been responsible, citing improved credit ratings and a stronger fiscal position.

She pointed to tangible outcomes from borrowing, including new air-conditioned buses, upgraded polyclinics and health sector improvements, while cautioning that the QEH loan was not a panacea.

“This loan is not something that we’re saying is going to fix all of the problems at the QEH,” she said. (SZB)