Canadian X-Ray heads to Cuba

Canadian X-Ray heads to Cuba
By Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch

Sending a $750,000 used X-ray machine to Cuba is no easy task.

First it needs to be disassembled, a tedious process in its own right,
crated, shipped first to Halifax and then by sea to Havana where it is
then unloaded and sent on its way to its final destination.

The impact it has on the people of the poverty-stricken Caribbean nation
makes it all worthwhile, says the man in charge of collecting outdated,
unused Canadian medical equipment and finding it a new home in a land
made famous by Hemingway.

Jerome Harvey, president of Medical Equipment Modernization Opportunity,
better known as MEMO Cuba, said their latest donation should have a huge
impact on the health of the Cuban people, especially at a cancer centre
that has no failsafe way to diagnose bowel and stomach cancer.

"This is going to save lives," Harvey said. "The reason it's available
is that it uses a technology no longer used in Canada, but it's used
routinely in Cuba still.

"It's going to make all the difference in the world. It's going to mean
that people who would not have their cancer diagnosed until much later
will be able to get early diagnosis."

The earlier the diagnosis, he added, the greater the chance of survival.

Harvey estimated that the Shimatzu flouroscopic X-ray machine, which is
about 15 years old, but has been out of commission at St. Joseph's Care
Group for the past half a decade or so, has at least another 10 years of
life left in it. And even more life than that if Cuban ingenuity is
calculated into the formula.

The Thunder Bay hospital uses digital technology, similar to most other
imaging-capable hospitals in Canada.

Harvey said the X-ray machine is expected to begin its journey from
Thunder Bay on Oct. 3, and should reach Cuba and be ready for use within
the next six months.

It's the 35th such shipment of medical equipment to Cuba, which allows
MEMO to send up to eight crates each year.

St. Joseph's Care Group CEO Traci Buckler on Tuesday said it only makes
sense for the hospital to share its wealth with a less fortunate nation.

"This piece of equipment is not digital and will be very useful in Cuba,
but it's not very useful here anymore," Buckler said.

MEMO volunteers gave their time to help dismantle the machine, under the
supervision of an X-ray consultant flown in from Alberta. MEMO raises
money in the community to cover its costs.

Canadian X-Ray heads to Cuba - TbNewsWatch.com (1 September 2009)
http://www.tbnewswatch.com/Entertainment/?cid=64573