The Bauchi government says it has procured 13 portable digital X-ray machines for tuberculosis diagnosis, worth $1.9 million.

Adamu Sambo, executive chairman of the Bauchi State Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja, during a facility tour of the state’s External Quality Assurance Reference Lab.

According to him, each of the 13 machines is worth over $150,000 and is meant only for tuberculosis diagnosis in the state.

”The machines are mobile. Once you provide the logistics for moving it, tests can be conducted in one particular location and then moved to another location for the same mission.

”These machines can take pictures of your chest, and they will immediately detect if there is tuberculosis in your chest; they are a very new technology. Five of them have already been put on mobile conducting tests in different facilities, while we have deployed others to other strategic locations,” he said.

The BACATMA executive chairman also explained that the machines’ images were of high resolution with fewer radioactive dangers to human health.

”Their exposure to radio activities is very minimal compared to other conventional machines that we have been using,” he said.

He said that the state had the highest number of such machines in the whole of the North-East, adding that Governor Bala Mohammed was willing to bring more to serve residents.

He also explained that the Bauchi State External Quality Assurance Reference Lab of BACATMA was a place where people could come to check their HIV and tuberculosis status, as well as their blood group, free of charge.

He urged all intending couples to visit the lab and undergo the necessary tests before tying the knot.

”These are some of the wonders of the state governor in the agency for the people of Bauchi state. Testing kits and consumables in this lab are provided by the state government,” he said.

(NAN)