BY INDY MAEALASIA
The absence of crucial components has prevented the country’s only mammogram machine, a vital tool for breast cancer detection, from being fully operational, Minister of Health and Medical Services, Paul Popora Bosawai told parliament.
Since the Solomon Islands Maritime Authority (SIMA) handed the mammogram over to the National Referral Hospital (NRH) last year, it has remained non-operational.
Bosawai explained that the lengthy delay was due to missing components detected during the installation process.
“Upon the initial installation on 12th December 2023 we could not have the equipment fully functioned as the technician that came to do the installment found out that the protective seal was missing,” he said.
Bosawai further explained that upon the final stage of the second follow-up installment in August, further inspections revealed that another essential component, was also missing resulting in an electronic fault.
Consequently, the supplier had to reorder the component before the machine could be fully operational.
He assured parliament that overseas technicians would return to complete the installation once their logistical arrangements, including their visas, are finalized
“Once the parts are received, and the technicians are on the ground, the final installment will be executed before the closure of December 2024,” he stated.
In response to the matter, opposition leader Matthew Wale emphasized the need to standardize the procurement process for medical equipment, whether new or donated.
“We must have some minimum requirement or standards in place,” Wale emphasized.
Minister Bosawai agreed noting, “I think this is the way forward that we should have a standardized way of procuring our medical equipment,”
