Dye shortage in Egypt for CT scans threatens patient lives

Patients in various Egyptian governorates have complained of shortages in dye ampoules (contrast medium) needed for CT scans, which could be potentially life-threatening.

Badria Hussein has been searching for this substance for a month in Damietta Governorate hospitals.

She said, “I have been going around government hospitals for a whole month to do a CT scan with dye, and unfortunately they ask me to buy the dye ampoules at my own expense, and I cannot afford their price on the black market.”

Hussein added “I was transferred to the Chest Diseases Hospital to do the scan, but unfortunately they asked me to buy them (the dye) at my own expense. Pharmacies provide them by reservation, and their price ranges from LE 1,700 to LE 2,200.”

“At Mansoura University Hospital, they set an appointment at month later due to the same problem, and despite more than a month passing, I was not able to have a scan in either Damietta or Mansoura,” she continued.

Waheeba Abdullah from Daqahliya Governorate has gone through similar woes, saying: “I am a cancer patient and unfortunately I need to have CT scan with dye, and the scan centers refuse to recognize the government health insurance referral and demand that we buy the dye at our own expense and not at the insurance expense.”