Ethiopia Gets Second MRI Machine

Pioneer Diagnostics Center, a private company established with five shareholders of Ethio-Americans, has imported the second hi-tech medical machine known as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), at a cost of over 600,000 dollars.

With close to 60pc of the company owned by Girum Teklemariam (MD), the Center was established four months ago with five million Br capital. It is the second company in Ethiopia to import the machine that helps doctors have a better diagnosis of their patients, with examination results from a high quality images of the inside of the human body.

First discovered by Noble laureates Felix Bloch and Edward Purcell in 1946, MRI is a technique used by scientists to obtain microscopic chemical and physical information about molecules in the body, according to Encarta Encyclopidea.

In 2003, there were approximately 10,000 MRI units worldwide, and close to 75 million scans were performed the same year.

Bethel General Hospital introduced the machine to Ethiopia five months ago. The hospital is now treating patients everyday, except on the weekends, for a price ranging from 2,500 to 3,000 Br per exam. According to information from the hospital, about 500,000 dollars was spent on the machine, when imported from General Electric (GE). It is operated by an Ethiopian MRI radiologist, who was trained for three months.

Pioneer will be hiring a Chinese radiologist at a monthly salary of 3,000 dollars, according to Brook Fekadu, shareholder (20pc) and general manager of the company.

"He will train locals for three to six months, along with interpreting the images," said Brook.

The machine is currently being installed by three Chinese experts that arrived with it, and Brook anticipates it to be operational in the second week of September 2006.

According to Brook, the MRI with Pioneer is different as it is upgradeable to an interventional service, which is all about treating the patient without undergoing a surgery.

A medical doctor and radiologist from the Black Lion Hospital told Fortune that the availability of the MRI machines in Ethiopia is one step in the development of the country's health sector. She said that these machines are mainly used for muscle and spinal cord injuries, and also brain and cancer related diseases.

Many Ethiopians were traveling to Kenya, South Africa and India to have their bodies checked, according to Brook.

Haile G. Selassie, Ethiopia's track runner, was one of these people who traveled twice to Munich, Germany (six years ago) and Helsinki, Finland (2004) to check his alignment injuries.

"I will be the first to use the machine," Haile told Fortune.

Not only will he be saving time, but also saveing money for what he had paid in Europe was four time more expensive than what Bethel is charging: from 2,500 to 3,000 Br.

Woldemeskel Kostre (PhD), head coach in middle and long distance racing for Ethiopia, whose name was interwoven with the Haile's rise to stardom, said that the machine will help the athletes know their health conditions even without a noticeable injury.

He himself has also been checked twice (in Europe) with MRI machines for prices similar to what Haile had paid.

Brook said his company will charge similar prices with Bethel when it gets fully functional in its offices in the Alem Building, an edifice owned by Haile on Africa Avenue (Bole Road).