Kefa Atibuni
22 June 2008
Arua — IN the face of public outcry over the sad state of public hospitals in the country, a thief has made off with the only ultrasound machine at Arua Referral hospital.
According to the head of criminal investigations in Arua District, Romano Okuja, the theft occurred on Thursday. He said an unidentified man reportedly walked into the X-ray room and duped a cleaner on duty to go to the main gate where a doctor who works at the hospital supposedly wanted to talk to him.
When the cleaner went to the gate, the thief is picked the abdominal utrasound machine valued at Sh50 million and vanished through one of the small gates of the hospital. The machine weighs about 10kgs.
"No arrest has been made so far but we are investigating the case. We have only interrogated the cleaner," Mr Okuja told Sunday Monitor.
Abdominal ultrasound is an imaging procedure used to scan the internal organs of the body.
It is used in many situations but mainly to monitor the growth of an unborn child. It can also be used to detect abnormalities of internal tissues such as the heart, liver, gallbladder (such as gallstones), pancreas, thyroid gland, lymph nodes, ovaries, testes, kidneys, bladder among other organs.
The Medical Superintendent at the hospital, Dr Charles Olaro said the hospital has lost a key equipment for obstetrics diagnosis. "This was the only ultrasound machine in a government hospital in the entire region of West Nile.
On average we have been scanning over 50 patients everyday," he said.
Ultrasound scanning in private clinics in Arua town costs about Shs20, 000 which cannot be afforded by the majority of people in West Nile.
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I am a former police officer and detective with the Veterans Administration Police in the USA. I have been collecting information in regards to the theft of medical equipment, for several years. If have spoken to law enforcement investigators here in the U.S., to give them an overview of the problem.
When it comes to stolen medical equipment ultrasound machines and their attached transducers or probes are one of the hottest items being stolen.
There have been a number of ultrasound machines and probes stolen in England. Also a scanner was stolen from a hospital in Nice, France a month or two ago. The British Ultrasound Society has listed information on several thefts in England on their website.
As a suggestion, the theft of this scanner should be reported to the manufacturer of the machine. There is a chance that the machine might be sold to another medical facility. If the system needs repairs then they might contact the manufacturer. They most likely would check their warranty database and find that it was stolen from another medical facility.
Patrick Kerrigan