Here are five things to know about the global radiology gap.
- Radiological tests play a crucial role in healthcare. Ultrasounds help physicians monitor pregnancies, chest X-rays show if tuberculosis treatments are working and CT scanners can catch cancer or internal bleeding in early stages. “Every part of medicine in which the patient has a problem and the answer isn’t obvious on physical exam or labs benefits from imaging — particularly trauma,” said Jeffrey Mendel, MD, the senior health and policy advisor for radiology at Boston-based Partners in Health, an organization dedicated to improving the health of poor or marginalized populations.
- Kenya, which has a population of 43 million, only has 200 radiologists. In contrast, Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital alone has 126. More radiologists work in four teaching hospitals on one street in Boston than in all of West Africa.
- While CT scanners are present in 96 percent of U.S. emergency departments, people living in rural Nepal, Asia, must travel more than two days and spend a month’s income to find a healthcare facility with an available X-ray or ultrasound machine, the report states.
- Of the facilities that do own these machines, not all are fully functioning. Almost 50 percent of X-rays and more than 40 percent of ultrasounds in resource-deprived countries do not function properly, according to the report, since they are donated at the end of their lives and replacement parts are not available.
- Even when these machines do work properly, many health facilities don’t have a reliable electrical system to power them. Modern hospitals run on three-phase electric power that offers an uninterrupted supply of current. “Getting three-phase to rural Nepal is a tremendous task,” said Ryan Schwarz, MD, COO of Possible, an organization that brought working x-rays and ultrasounds to rural Nepal. “With unreliable current, you run into shocks. This is a problem every day in developing countries.”
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