Leaders decry lack of  X-ray, ultrasound at Mityana hospital

Mityana General Hospital is still operating without X-ray and ultrasound scan machines despite government’s commitment to fix or replace the equipment.
Both machines, which are vital in medical care, broke down three years ago.

 An X-ray is used to detect intestinal obstruction; take photos of the brain, chest, and bones while the ultrasound scan helps to examine the pelvis and abdomen, particularly in pregnancy, the breast, testes, and soft tissues of the neck and limbs. 
The hospital administration said it has been forced to refer patients, who need such services, to private health facilities within Mityana Town or Mubende Regional Referral Hospital, which is about 100 kilometres away.

In an interview with Daily Monitor  on Saturday, Dr Fred Lwasampijja, the Mityana District health officer, said efforts are being made to replace the ultrasound scan machine.
“As a district, we cannot repair the X-ray machine because we don’t have that money. We had planned to procure an ultrasound scan and earmarked Shs40m for it but we later learnt that a good machine goes for Shs120m. So we are waiting for the ministry to come to our rescue,” Dr Lwasampijja said.
 
Dr Vincent Kawooya, the Mityana Hospital medical superintendent, said they have embarked on upgrading services at the private wing, which will help them raise money to procure a new ultrasound scan. 
“Government may delay to help us get a new ultrasound scan, but if our people support our services at the private wing, I am sure we will raise money to buy a new machine,” Dr Kawooya said.
According to Dr Kawooya, an ultrasound machine is about Sh90m while a modern X-ray goes up to Sh250m.  

During the commissioning of the refurbished Mityana General Hospital on January 6, then Mityana District chairperson, Mr Joseph Luzige, appealed to President Museveni, who was the chief guest, to help the facility secure new X-ray and ultrasound scan machines. 
When contacted, Mr Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the Ministry of Health spokesperson, said the ministry’s engineering department is sourcing a contractor to repair the X-ray machine.   
“We are yet to identify a competent firm to repair the X-ray machine,” Mr Ainebyoona said in a telephone interview. 

Daily Monitor has also learnt that some of the other equipment at the facility were stolen allegedly by the staff.
In July 2018, a number of computers, television set, solar batteries, microscopes and a CD4 machine went missing from the hospital. 
Police investigations revealed that they were stolen by a porter during the rehabilitation of the hospital. 
The investigations also revealed that the porter connived with some of the hospital staff.