New bone scanner for State Hospital
A NEW bone density scanner is to be purchased for the capital’s state hospital, it has been announced, after it was revealed that the existing equipment had been out of order since 2016.
The scanner is particularly vital for 150 thalassaemia patients who need regular scans, and Thalassemia Association head Ahmet Varoğlu said this week the ongoing technical fault meant patients with the blood disorder were having to resort to going private.
He explained: “People with thalassaemia run the risk of having osteoporosis at a much younger age than the general population, so our members need to have regular bone density scanning.
“But they have been unable to have scans at Lefkoşa State Hospital due to the fact that the equipment has been out of order for the last two years.”
Health Minister Filiz Besim confirmed the problem, saying: “After we came to power we launched the necessary repair work . . . but our teams have identified that the problems associated with the scanner cannot be fixed and it needs to be replaced with brand new equipment.”
She added that a new scanner was expected “within the days ahead”.
There are currently 151 thalassaemia sufferers in North Cyprus, mostly aged over 30, who also need regular blood transfusions.
Mr Varoğlu said patients were also facing difficulty because of low reserves at the Lefkoşa hospital’s Central Blood Bank.
While he praised ongoing efforts to raise awareness of the need for blood donations, he reiterated calls for steps to be taken to overcome the problem and said a specialist unit should be set up to identify shortfalls and address them before they created a problem.