The Computed Tomography (CT) scan machine, which was installed at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital six months ago, is lying idle due to a lack of personnel to operate it.

The CT scan machine is one of those that were delivered by the government to the fourteen (14) regional referral hospitals in November 2022.  The hospital management says they also don’t have other specialists like cardiologists and gynecologists.
When Margaret Muhanga, the State Minister of Health in charge of Primary Health Care came to launch the construction of the Satellite Laboratory at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital, she learnt with shock that the new Computed Tomography (CT) scan machine has never been operated. The CT Scan operator has never been hired six months since the machine was installed.
According to Dr. Richard Mugahi, the Assistant Commissioner in charge of Reproductive and Infant Health at the Ministry of Health, from the time the machine was installed, the ministry has been looking to hire a radiologist but they have failed to find one willing to work in Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital.

Records from the Ministry of Health indicate that Uganda has only forty eighty (48) radiologists to serve over 40 million people. And eleven (11) of these radiologists are retired.

Dr. Alex Adaku, the director of Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital said that they have trained in-house radiographers -to operate the CT Scan Machine but they still lack the deeper capability and expertise to interpret the images from the machine.

According to Adaku, the hospital does not have specialists such as radiologists, pathologists, surgeons, cardiologists, neurologists, and obstetricians, among others.
He added that the hospital also needs better equipment to replace the existing old, worn-out machines, and more radiographers to handle the high patient numbers from across the Rwenzori region and beyond as far as the DRC.

Margaret Muhanga, the state minister of health in charge of Primary Health Care says the limited number of specialists in regional referral hospitals remains a big challenge to the ministry.

A CT scan machine can detect bone and joint problems such as complex bone fractures and tumors. It is also critical in the diagnosis of head injuries and the procedure costs more than 400,000 shillings in private facilities but it is free in government facilities.  

The CT scan machine can also detect complications such as cancer, heart disease, emphysema, or liver masses.

Jonan T.