Africa-Press – Uganda. Members of Parliament sitting on the Public Accounts Committee have tasked the government to explain circumstances surrounding an X-ray machine that has been lying idle for about three years since its purchase at Tororo General Referral Hospital.
A section of Committee members led by the Tororo District Woman MP, Sarah Achieng Opendi, raised their concern during an impromptu visit to the hospital to ascertain challenges affecting the government health facility from effectively offering health services.
Ms Opendi disclosed that the tour had been factored by the report issued by the Office of Auditor General, which highlighted Tororo District hospital as one of the government health facilities that have multiple challenges, limiting them from performing its cardinal functions of rendering health services.
During the visit, the legislators learnt with shock that the brand new digital X-ray machine that was donated to the district in 2019, has since then been lying idle forcing members of the community to go and seek X-ray services from the private health caregivers.
Ms Opendi said the idling X-ray machine is part of the 17 that the Ministry of Health procured while she was still the Minister of State for Health and General Duties (2016 to 2019) and during that time she had made recommendations that she thought the ministry would use to operationalise the equipment.
“I am saddened to note that for the last three years, the equipment are not operating yet they are key in saving lives and this has forced our people to go and access the service from private health caregivers who unfortunately over charge them,” she said.
Mr Isaac Mudoi, the Busheshe County MP, said staying the equipment for over three years was uncalled for because it has deprived citizens of accessing such important health services.
According to the hospital medical Superintendent, Dr Thomas Ochar, the equipment was donated by the United Nations Office of Programmes (UNOPS) through the Ministry of Health, but during the delivery, the service provider missed out on delivering some key spare parts like the power system stabilizer (PSS).
He said the facility has been operating without this important section of the health department forcing them to refer cases to the private health facilities that are ‘pocket friendly’.
Dr Ochar also identified limited funding being one of the challenges crippling service in the institution. He told legislators that the facility also faces the problem of frequent blood shortage, which has resulted in loss of lives emanating from a recorded malaria surge across the district.
He explained that most of the malaria victims die on their way to Mbale regional referral hospital where they are usually rushed for blood transfusion, revealing that last month alone they lost eight children under the age of five to acute malaria.
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