MULAGO STACK WITH FAKE MACHINES

“Please,we beg you forgive us but the machine is not functioning, I think you will come back next week. It will be fixed and I will be glad to work on you” rang the voice of a nurse at Level 5C Mulago Hospital.
The announcement dazed Nalongo Sarai 55, of Busujju had been diagnosed with a problem of the heart and was advised to take treatment with effect.
When asked for how long the condition has been like this, the nurse on duty who preferred anonymity explained that the Electrocardiography (ECG) machine was always on and off.
“This machine is always on and off, it works for two days and take a week on leave I think they procured old machines to work on peoples’ hearts yet their ‘hearts’ are already rotten . It is giving me a lot of trouble. Some patients even get tired and abuse me but I have nothing to do” said the nurse.
ECG treatment is an across the thorax or chest interpretation of the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time, as detected by electrodes attached to the outer surface of the skin and recorded by a device external to the body. The recording produced by this noninvasive procedure is termed an electrocardiogram.
Thus, patients who needed such service resorted to self-pity and complaining about the ineffectiveness of the institution as they slowly strolled down the steps from level 5c to go and have services and treatment from the Uganda Heart Institute (UHI) which according to a highly placed source in the Mulago Hospital administration must be paid for with a sum of at least Shs 200,000/=
However, according to Dr Asuman Lukwago Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, this is not the only malfunctioning equipment procured recently by the hospital administration.
“Government has accessed Mulago for the past years and it has not been performing as expected. What alarms government is the procurement of dummy equipment such as the CT Scan which cannot even work on three patients a day” he said.
“We have found out that most machines procured are fake and instead of treating patients they cause more damage. These machines like that CT Scan emits a lot of radiations which cause cancer and so we do not know how much damage it has caused our patients” added Mr Lukwago Asuman while addressing journalists at Mulago on Friday about the state of the National Referral hospital and the new hospital administration headed by Dr Byarugaba Baterana.
According to Mr Lukwago, the fake CT scan was bought at a cost of US 800,000 dollars late last year and worked for only three months.
“We have also found out that about Shs 44 million is nowhere to be seen and was not accountable for by the previous administration yet they claimed to have had supplies from various companies which is not true. Those thieves executed a lot of fraudulent deals conniving with some of the suppliers which eventually put a lot of peoples’ lives on the line” he continued.
He warns that the ministry has taken a tough stand to evacuate the previous Mulago hospital administration led by Dr Edward Ddumba replacing him with Mr Byarugaba Baterana as investigations into the matter are in the final stages and government is calculating the costs of disposal of the fake machines and buying new ones.
MORE EQUIPMENT
Apparently, Mulago has received 900 beds, at an estimated cost of Shs 690,000 each, 300 mattresses, 75 state of the art blood pressure machines from government and a donation of US 88 million dollars from the African Development Bank which is going to be used to refurbish the hospital and two other health centers which include Kawempe, and Kiruddu health centers.
This comes at a time when plans of building five other hospitals around Kampala including an only women complex at Mulago are still premature.