Chapter 4: Conditions contributing to poor imaging services

- 4 a: General, overall problems

An overall reason for poor quality or sometimes total absence of diagnostic imaging services in is ignorance at political and economical level of the country. Such ignorance is especially seen with regard to importance and necessity of diagnostic imaging services as integrated part of any hospital care. Plans and priorities for how to develop national health plans and services are often adapted from recommendations and guidelines produced by international organizations, such as United Nations agencies. Unfortunately, however, such recommendations sometimes seem to lack certain understandings for real problems, and they are mostly being developed by experts living and working under totally different condition where “everything” is available and possible. Any attempt to transfer such conditions to countries with very limited resources and infrastructure in stead of suggesting steps and development adapted to what is absolute needed “here and now”, may prove unrealistic and sometimes counter-productive. Recommendations aiming at changing a practically non-existent health system “over night” into a system as found in some rich countries, have failed so far, and it is not reasonable to assume that this may change in the near future. For diagnostic imaging in particular, this is often the case in the sense that technically and medically sophisticated and complicated equipment and procedures may be “installed” - purchased or donated - for locations without necessary infrastructure and staffing for in place. The result is a large amount of expensive, useless and often unused, or not properly installed equipment lying around in various hospital facilities.