Kampala-The ministry of health has announced the arrival of Computed Tomography (CT) Scanners for Regional Referral Hospitals (RRHs) in the country.
A CT scan is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body including the internal organs, blood vessels and bones. They can be used to: diagnose conditions – including damage to bones, injuries to internal organs, problems with blood flow, stroke, and cancer.
The ministry of health says each of the 14 RRHs across the country will have a CT scanner. Previously only two hospitals including Mulago National Referral Hospital and Aber Hospital in Oyam district had CT scanners.
Six hospitals namely; Entebbe RRH, Jinja RRH, Moroto RRH, Hoima RRH, Fort portal RRH and Mbale RRH have so far received the CT scanners.
The hospitals that are receiving CT Scanners between 15th and 16th November, 2022 are Masaka RRH, Mbarara RRH, Kabale RRH, Gulu RRH, Lira RRH and Arua RRH.
For Soroti RRH, the ministry says, the CT Scanner will be delivered when the site is completed. Similarly at Mubende RRH, the CT Scanner will not be delivered due to Ebola outbreak as the site was put on hold.
Eng. Tadeo Byabagambi, head of Biomedical and Electro-Mechanical Engineering at the Ministry of Health describes this as a big achievement for the health sector.
In an exclusive interview with LBS Newsday on Wednesday, Eng Byabagambi said the CT scan machines which were procured by the government of Uganda at a sum of over Shs 21 billion will ease access to radiology services in the country.
“Patients have been struggling to move far distances looking for CT scan services at National Referral Hospitals. Strategically, the ministry of health looked at all ways by getting the funding from the government of Uganda to boost diagnosis and treatment at RRHs,” says Byabagambi
He added, “Now that all the 14 RRHs are going to get CT scans, this means patients are now going to get timely services and also the money that they have been spending on transport moving far distances to Mulago to look for CT scan will be saved for other things.
Eng Byabagambi reveals that on top of that, Mbarara hospital will get a state of art 1.5 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scanner to serve the entire western region. He adds that as they get more funding, all the other Regional Refferal Hospitals will also get the MRI Scanner.