Patients in various Egyptian governorates have complained of shortages in dye ampoules (contrast medium) needed for CT scans, which could be potentially life-threatening.
Badria Hussein has been searching for this substance for a month in Damietta Governorate hospitals.
She said, “I have been going around government hospitals for a whole month to do a CT scan with dye, and unfortunately they ask me to buy the dye ampoules at my own expense, and I cannot afford their price on the black market.”
Hussein added “I was transferred to the Chest Diseases Hospital to do the scan, but unfortunately they asked me to buy them (the dye) at my own expense. Pharmacies provide them by reservation, and their price ranges from LE 1,700 to LE 2,200.”
“At Mansoura University Hospital, they set an appointment at month later due to the same problem, and despite more than a month passing, I was not able to have a scan in either Damietta or Mansoura,” she continued.
Waheeba Abdullah from Daqahliya Governorate has gone through similar woes, saying: “I am a cancer patient and unfortunately I need to have CT scan with dye, and the scan centers refuse to recognize the government health insurance referral and demand that we buy the dye at our own expense and not at the insurance expense.”
Why is there a dye shortage?
The director of the Oncology Center at Mansoura University, Walid al-Nahhas, revealed the reason for the shortage of dye ampoules.
He said, “Not only the dye, but most cancer medications are not available despite the dire need for them because government hospitals do not buy medications or supplies but request them from the Unified Procurement Authority.”
Nahhas continued, “Despite the issuance of supply orders from the authority to contracting companies, unfortunately these companies are slow to supply and leave us prey to the black market.”
The head of the Right to Medicine Center, Mohamed Fouad said that this problem has been ongoing for more than two years.
“We have submitted numerous complaints to Health Ministry and House of Representatives over the course of two years over this crisis, but unfortunately there is no serious action despite the availability of most of the medicines and these dyes on the black market at three and four times their original price,” he explained.
“Unfortunately, there are patients who have lost their lives because they did not undergo a CT scan with dye, which the doctor needs to accurately diagnose the disease.”
A member of the House of Representatives representing Damietta Governorate, Evelyn Matta, submitted a request for a briefing addressed to the Health Minister, regarding the shortage of dye ampoules in government hospitals.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
