Wa hospital's X-ray machine breaks down

Wa, (Upper West) 17 Nov. 1998 The only X-ray machine at the Wa Regional Hospital has broken down. A dental machine has now been improvised for the scanning of limbs, skulls, spine and kidneys of the numerous patients that go to the hospital.

Mr Sieyi Yaro, the senior technical officer in charge of the department, who conducted the GRi round the department said as a result of the breakdown of the machine the department stopped giving barium meals, which are normally given to stomach ulcer patients before they are examined.

Barium meals enhance accurate examination under X-ray which the improvised dental machine is not capable of doing.

He said the couches in which patients are positioned before examination are also out of use, adding "should the trend continue this way we will be forced to close down the department and refer X-ray cases to other hospitals in the country".

Mr Yaro, therefore, appealed to the Minister of Health to consider equipping the department with new machines to befit its status as a Regional Hospital.

He also called on individuals and non-governmental organisations to assist the Wa regional hospital, which is plagued with a lot of problems.