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Cameroon: Diagnostic Ultrasound Technology Still Costly
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The Post (Buea)
18 April 2008
Posted to the web 18 April 2008
Francis Tim Mbom
Buea
The use of the ultrasound technology (echography) as a diagnostic option is still too expensive for the ordinary Cameroonian although the technology has been around for over five decades.
The ultrasound-based diagnostic technique developed in the late 1940s and early 50s in the US and some European countries, is used to examine internal organs such as the bladder, kidney, appendix, muscles, tendons, testes, bone surfaces and others.
Besides, obstetrical ultrasound is commonly used during pregnancy to check the development of the fetus. But even the very basic ultrasound applications in Cameroon are still very expensive for commoners.
At the Limbe Provincial Hospital, a patient spends at least FCFA 8,000 for ultrasound diagnosis. At the Baptist Hospital Mutengene, the cost is a little lower at FCFA 7,000 and at the far away Catholic Hospital Njinikom, an obstetrical sonographic examination costs FCFA 4,000.
When The Post contacted the Director of Limbe Provincial Hospital, Dr. Thompson Kinge, he said the difference in cost between what they do and the private hospitals depends on the quality of the materials used for the services.
Meanwhile, one Dr. Roland Besong, a former intern at the Hospital, said ultrasound technology is costlier in Africa due to lack of means to acquire the technology and even to train specialists to handle it. He added that most of the private hospitals do not have amply qualified staff to handle the equipment to good effect.
The ultrasound machine uses sound waves that are sent into the body at a high frequency and to a desired depth and a specific body part. The sound waves hit body tissues, blood cells or organs and some of the waves are reflected to a sonographic machine via a transducer.
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The waves are processed by the machine and beamed onto a scanner which produces a digital image of the waves on a computer screen. This enables the user to see clearly the image of that part of the body.This technology enables fast diagnosis and it is said to be very good for pregnant mothers.
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