Maputo Central Hospital (HCM), the country’s largest healthcare facility, resumed care for oncology patients on Monday at the premises of its Dermatology Department, where the clinical activities of the Oncology Department have been temporarily relocated following the fire that engulfed its building last Sunday.

According to the hospital, 95% of oncology patients’ clinical records were preserved because they were kept in the building’s basement, outside the areas affected by the fire and the water used to extinguish it. Teams are currently working to reconstruct the affected records, with the aim of resuming outpatient chemotherapy as soon as possible.

The information was provided on Monday by HCM Clinical Director Dércio Fernandes during a press conference called to update the public on the situation at the department following the fire that broke out on Sunday morning.

According to Fernandes, inpatients were safely transferred, with no injuries reported, and the hospital is reorganising its services to ensure continued care for patients. He confirmed that the Oncology Department had 22 inpatients, 12 of whom were medically discharged, while the remaining 10 were transferred to the Dermatology ward.

Fernandes said that, despite the damage caused by the fire, the hospital had resumed outpatient services for the majority of oncology patients, including consultations, psychological support and chemotherapy treatments.

He said that on Monday, for example, the department received 60 patients for consultations, 12 for emergency care and 20 who went to the country’s largest healthcare facility for outpatient chemotherapy. However, the latter had to wait for new clinical records to be opened, as the documents prepared for that day’s treatments had been affected by the fire.

The official also said that five patients were received for admission, three of whom required hospitalisation, while the other two were undergoing transfusions in preparation for starting chemotherapy. Continuing chemotherapy is one of the hospital’s main challenges, given that the Oncology Department previously treated between 30 and 40 patients daily through its day hospital service.

To meet this need, he explained, the specialised chairs used to administer treatments were recovered and installed in the Dermatology Department building, the new temporary home of the Oncology Department’s activities.

The source assured that treatments would continue, although acknowledging the difficulties arising from the transfer and reorganisation of services. He added that nursing, psychology, general medicine and specialist teams had been mobilised to ensure continued patient care.

Regarding the radiotherapy service, which operates in the building engulfed by the flames, the HCM Clinical Director clarified that the treatment of cancer does not depend exclusively on this procedure, as different therapeutic approaches are available according to each patient’s needs. He also assured that an inspection of the Radiotherapy Department had confirmed that the Flexitron and Linear Accelerator equipment remained intact, and that, according to the assessment presented, there was no risk of radiation emissions associated with the incident.

Meanwhile, the causes of the fire, as well as the extent of the material damage, remain under investigation by the competent authorities. He therefore considered it premature to draw conclusions while the assessment of the losses is still under way.