Mbarara Hospital lacks X-ray machine

By Kyomuhendo Muhanga

FOR the past eight months, Mbarara Hospital has been operating without an X-ray machine, a senior medical officer has revealed.
The doctor, who preferred anonymity, disclosed that patients are now referred to private clinics in Mbarara town, which charge between sh20,000 and sh60,000 for the services.

Only three clinics have the machines, which are used to photograph the inner parts of the body before medication is administered.
The medical superintendent, Dr. Placid Mihayo, on Monday said: “All our X-ray machines have been out of service for the last six months but we are trying to make at least one operational.”

He said the mobile X-ray machine broke down before the main one in July.

Mihayo added that the Ministry of Health would replace the main machine.

Meanwhile, the hospital also ran out of bandages.

A nurse at the emergency ward said: “We do not have even a single inch of a bandage. We are in an acute crisis.”