RAHIM YAR KHAN: Dozens of people from civil society held a rally on Tuesday demanding the CT scan machine at the Sheikh Zayed Medical College and Hospital (SZMC&H) that had been lying out of order since long should be either made functional or replaced with a new one to provide relief to the poor patients.

The rally started from Railway Chowk and concluded at Dua Chowk. The participants carrying banners and placards inscribed with their demand chanted slogans against the administration of SZMC&H.

They said the CT scan machine of the SZMCH that was installed in 2006 had been non-functional for the last two years.

They said because of the faulty machine, the patients were forced to visit the private CT scan centres that were charging heavy amounts.

They alleged that some senior doctors of SZMC&H radiology department were running their private MRI and CT scan centres near SZMC&H and referring the poor patients to these outlets.

SZMC&H spokesperson Allyas Ahmed said the CT scan machine was purchased with the funds generated through the fees of self-finance medical students and its lifespan had completed in 2016.

Later, its picture tubes were damaged and the SZMC&H administration deposited Rs16 million with the manufacturing company for purchasing new tubes after completing tendering process.

He, however, said that the matter was delayed because of red tape.

In July 2018 the CT scan machine was made functional, but on Aug 22, 2018 it stopped working due to fault in some sensors.

He said now the company’s engineers had inspected the machine and assured the hospital administration that after replacing the sensors, it would be functional in four days.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2018