After the installation of 16 more CT scan machines, soon all the 75 districts in the state will have the facility free of cost for patients in at least one government hospital in each district.
Till now, 61 CT scan machines have been installed in 59 districts, with some of the districts having more than one machine due to patient load. In the past three years, 9,57,055 patients got CT scan done in state-run hospitals in Uttar Pradesh, said a press statement from the state government.
CT scan is useful for victims of road accident, or those getting severe head injury in any other incident. “With more CT scan machines installed, the number of beneficiaries has gone up by about 48% in some districts,” said the statement.
“Free CT scan facility will be available in all the districts. In big cities more than one CT scan machine is being installed so that patients do not have to wait,” said Brajesh Pathak, deputy chief minister who is also state’s health minister.
“CT scan becomes significant in case of road accidents resulting in head injury. To check if there is swelling or bleeding in the brain or a fracture in the skull, a CT scan is usually the first diagnostic test recommended to clear doubts and decide line of treatment,” said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary general, Association of International Doctors.
{{/usCountry}}“CT scan becomes significant in case of road accidents resulting in head injury. To check if there is swelling or bleeding in the brain or a fracture in the skull, a CT scan is usually the first diagnostic test recommended to clear doubts and decide line of treatment,” said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary general, Association of International Doctors.
{{/usCountry}}The 16 districts that will get new CT scan machines are Amroha, Etah, Mainpuri, Kanpur Dehat, Sambhal, Shamli, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Mirzapur, Pratapgarh, Bareilly, Jhansi, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Gonda, Ayodhya and Lucknow. Some of them already have CT scan machines but will be getting additional under the programme.
The cost of CT scan is between ₹5,000 to ₹7,000, while at government medical institutes the cost of CT scan is ₹2,500 and free for destitute patients and those coming in emergency and do not have money. The 61 machines installed at government hospitals are giving the CT scan facility free of cost at all 59 districts and the other 16 CT scan machines will also provide the facility free of cost.
Computerized tomography or CT scan produces images of inside of the body including the bones, muscles, organs and blood vessels. At present districts having free CT scan facility include Aligarh, Lucknow, Farukhabad, Lakhimpur-Kheri, Hamirpur, Ghazipur, Ayodhya, Jalaun, Fatehpur, Basti, Ambedkarnagar, Banda, Chitrakoot, Kasganj, Barabanki, Deoria, and Mau.