MRI breaks down; Korle-Bu loses C30m daily

Accra, Aug 3, GNA 96 Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital is losing 30 million cedis daily because scanning equipment, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has broken down for about a week now.

Dr Alex Yeboah, Head of the Radiology Department of the Hospital told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that the equipment was broke down as a result of frequent power outages that had affected the Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) component of the equipment. =93It is the most expensive equipment in the country and it is only Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa that has the equipment in Africa and patients, who require such services are now referred to either Nigeria or South Africa.

Dr Yeboah explained: 93The MRI is equipment that shows elements of the spine; veins and joints and has a comparative advantage over other scanners since it did not produce any radiations.

He said the only alternative; the Computed Tonography (CT) was currently being used although it often wasted X-ray films. Dr Yeboah said efforts by the supplier of the equipment; F. Malawi of Philips, to repair it had not yet been successful.

Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, Chief Executive of the Hospital, also expressed disappointment that the MRI was not functioning and said efforts were being made to repair it.