Ogbole Godwin Inalegwu, Adeyomoye Adekunle Olakunle, Badu-Peprah Augustina, Mensah Yaw, Nzeh Donald Amasike
Departments of Radiology, University College Hospital Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Lagos University Teaching Hospital Idiaraba, Idiaraba, Nigeria.
Pan Afr Med J. 2018 Jul 31;30:240. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2018.30.240.14000. eCollection 2018.
The availability and utilization of MRI units across sub-Saharan Africa countries remain poor and its distribution is largely unknown. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to determine the distribution and utilization of MRI facilities across the West African sub-region.
An interview and online search survey was conducted from September 2015 to September 2016, to determine the MRI facilities (Government/Public and Private) available in the West African sub-region. In Nigeria and Ghana, face-to-face interviews were conducted while for other West African countries, telephone interviews with radiologists and other health professionals as well as a Google online search were conducted to ascertain the distribution of the MRI facilities in the region. The number of MRI units in West Africa per million population was calculated and compared with other parts of the world from available published data.
Eighty-four MRI units serve a combined population of 372,551,411 in the West African sub-region at the time of this report. Nigeria accounted for more than two-thirds (58 (69%)) of the available units. Of these, 45 (77.6%) of the units were low-field strength systems. Ghana's 14 MRI units were fairly equally distributed between the private (57%) and the public sectors (43%). Ghana with 0.48 units/million population had the highest number of MRI units/ million population followed by Nigeria with 0.30 units/million population.
Though there is an increase in the number of available MRI units in the West African sub region in the last decade, the numbers remain appallingly small for the population. Infrastructural and maintenance limitations constitute a major impediment to the use of high filed systems in the region. There may be need for greater cooperation between public and private enterprises for future improvement of MRI utilization in the region.
撒哈拉以南非洲国家磁共振成像（MRI）设备的可及性和利用率仍然很低，其分布情况也大多未知。开展了一项横断面调查，以确定MRI设备在西非次区域的分布和使用情况。
于2015年9月至2016年9月进行了访谈和在线搜索调查，以确定西非次区域现有的MRI设备（政府/公立和私立）。在尼日利亚和加纳进行了面对面访谈，而对于其他西非国家，则通过与放射科医生和其他卫生专业人员进行电话访谈以及谷歌在线搜索来确定该区域MRI设备的分布。根据现有公开数据计算了西非每百万人口的MRI设备数量，并与世界其他地区进行了比较。
在本报告发布时，西非次区域有84台MRI设备，服务于总计372551411人口。尼日利亚拥有超过三分之二（58台（69%））的现有设备。其中，45台（77.6%）设备为低场强系统。加纳的14台MRI设备在私营部门（57%）和公共部门（43%）之间分布较为均衡。加纳每百万人口拥有0.48台MRI设备，是每百万人口中MRI设备数量最多的，其次是尼日利亚，每百万人口有0.30台。
尽管在过去十年中西非次区域可用的MRI设备数量有所增加，但与人口数量相比仍然少得惊人。基础设施和维护方面的限制是该地区使用高场系统的主要障碍。未来可能需要公私企业之间加强合作，以提高该地区MRI的利用率。
