A multi-billion ultra sound machine donated by the Ministry of Health to a Main Hospital has been out of use for the last five years putting patients’ lives at risk.
“The absence of the ultra sound services at Pallisa Main Hospital remains a big challenge that has been singled out as a major gap. This puts the lives of expectant mothers at a great risk,” Mr Wilberforce Makeri, a member of civil society has revealed.
He explained that the ultra sound machine broke down five years ago thus leaving expectant mothers who urgently need these services with no option but to seek such services from private health facilities, which is quite expensive.
Mr Makeri made the revelation while presenting a health status report during the district engagement dialogue organized by Action Aid – Pallisa branch, with the district executive sector committee at Crossroads Hotel.
The non-functionality of the ultra sound machine at the hospital leaves mothers in need of these services to part with money ranging from Shs20, 000 to Shs80, 000 per check-up from privately-owned health facilities.
An ultra sound machine is a diagnostic imaging technique based on the application of ultra sound. It is used to see internal body structures such as tendons, muscles and internal organs. The practice of examining pregnant women using ultra sound is to determine the status of the baby.
Ms Shibah Namulindwa, the programme officer, Action Aid Pallisa, noted that: “Medically, its recommended that an expectant mother should at least go for an ultra-scan once before giving birth because this helps medics to detect any complications before birth.”
Meanwhile at Kibuku health IV in Kibuku District, the community monitors discovered that the ultra sound machine had been abandoned for the last seven years after health workers failed to operate it since it was donated by an NGO in 2011.
“The machine is just lying idle and sinking in dust due to lack of specialized person to operate it. It is quite unfortunate and regrettable that people are not getting the required services,” she noted.
According to Namulindwa, Pallisa Hospital and Kibuku Health centre IV face a number of challenges that both districts should address by incorporating into the district budgets. The facilities continue to face shortage of delivery beds, lack of tri-circle ambulances to transport emergency cases from the lower health facilities.
The Pallisa District Health Officer, Mr Godfrey Mulekwa confirmed the challenge, saying that the machine broke down beyond repair but what the district has done is to put it in the budget line of Shs20 million.
src: Monitor
