New machine will help Bara Hospital reduce thyroid backlogs

The country’s largest health facility‚ Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital‚ will in future be able to reduce thyroid disease backlogs drastically‚ the Gauteng health department says.

On Thursday‚ the hospital’s Department of Endocrinology will take ownership of a new ultrasound machine that will reduce the normal waiting period of three to six months to just one or two weeks – thanks to a public-private-partnership.

The machine‚ valued at R700‚000 is being donated by global pharmaceutical company‚ Merck.

The machine will be used to diagnose and treat thyroid disease‚ which in the past was only done through blood tests‚ a method that had a long turnaround time‚ the department says.