Patients who were involved in fatal accidents, have chest or brain problems, as well as those who need access to scanning services before getting appropriate medication have been missing diagnoses for suitable treatment in the past month.
This is the case because the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre has not been working due to faulty metal equipment within the system.
Health activist Maziko Matemba fears that this poses a threat to patients’ lives as some patients may fail to get the right treatment due to the faulty machine.
The machine is managed by the College of Medicine through its Malaria Project.
Officials from Malaria Project failed to give us further details including what exactly went wrong with the machine, as well as when the machine would be functional.
“We are working on the machine so I don’t see any reason why this story is important [to you] at all. We deal with our issues without involving journalists,” said a highly irritated official.
QECH Chief Hospital Administrator Themba Mhango confirmed that the MRI machine is down, adding that patients have not been accessing services.
“This MRI machine is not run by QECH or the Government of Malawi but Malaria Project. Patients who are diagnosed pay very minimal charges. We pay for the charges from our drug budget,” said Mhango, who could not immediately disclose the number of patients that access the machine per week.
But Matemba said it is sad that there is only one machine in the country, a situation worsened by the fact that the machine is also not owned by the Ministry of Health.
We have established that this is the only MRI machine in the country, as private hospitals also send their patients for diagnosis to QECH. The private patients pay an average of K200, 000 while patients referred to the referral facility by public hospitals pay a subsidised fee of K27, 000 since hospitals pay on their behalf.
“This is an important diagnosis machine which needs to be functional all the time to save lives. What has been happening to patients who are in need of the services of doctors for interpretation of their diagnosis results and administration of proper treatment?” Matemba questioned.
Director of Health Services in the Ministry of Health Charles Mwansambo said the machine does not belong to the Ministry of Health, and that the ministry only pays for services offered through Malaria Project.
“People should not worry about the non-operational [status] of this machine.
It’s true that it is the only one in the country but they shouldn’t panic,” Mwansambo said, revealing that the government wishes to get its own MRI machine but has been failing to do so due to budget constraints.
The MRI machine is used to produce accurate results of brain and chest scans. Most patients recommended to have this scan have or are suspected to have cancer, seizures or other brain disorders or accident injuries.
Malawi News has learnt that an MRI machine costs as high as $1,000,000.
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