In Uttar Pradesh, hospitals in divisional HQs to get MRI facility

LUCKNOW: To ensure better diagnostic facilities in government hospitals and to reduce patient’s dependence on private facilities, hospitals in divisional headquarters across the state will now get on campus magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facility.

“Initially, nine hospitals in districts with divisional headquarters will get MRI facility. Later, this number will be extended to 17 districts with divisional headquarters,” said a senior health official.

All the 167 hospitals in the state have pathologies but not all have MRI. In the first phase, Azamgarh, Banda, GB Nagar, Moradabad, Meerut, Saharanpur, Lucknow, Gonda and Gazaiabad are likely to get MRI facility on public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.

In Lucknow, which is one of the divisional headquarters, the MRI facility is likely to be installed at Civil Hospital, said a health official.

Prayagraj and Kanpur already have MRI facility.

“The CT Scan facility is in 65 districts in the state, but now MRI facility will be brought in each district gradually,” said the official.

“An MRI is significant in treatment of many ailments. It helps diagnose a variety of conditions, from torn ligaments to tumors in human body. MRI produces clearer image than a CT Scan, which may be the need in certain medical conditions,” said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary general association of international doctors.

The new MRI machines would be installed under a tender process where the bidder would have to arrange its uninterrupted operation and ensure its repair without delay, said official.