Brasilia - About 15% of the mammography of the Unified Health System (SUS) are unused

Brasilia - About 15% of the mammography of the Unified Health System (SUS) are unused, according to unpublished audit by the Ministry of Health of the equipment in operation, 44% are in health care in the states of Southeast Region. In total, the SUS has 1,514 mammography equipment. Of these, 223 are stopped, 111 have low productivity, 85 and 27 are defective in packaging. In Rio Grande do Norte, the total of 22 mammography available, 5 are unused. The number represents 22.7% of the total existing in the state. It is the fourth highest in the Northeast, behind those recorded in Paraíba (47.1%), Maranhão (34.3%) and Piauí (24.1%).
The federal government found that the equipment is not used or have low productivity due to lack of technical and skilled personnel to operate them. "In some places, the mammography unit is only operated in the morning and then sits idle," said the director of the National Audit Department of the SUS (Denasus), Adalberto Fulgencio, who led the audit, carried out for two months.The survey identified that Acre has three handsets, but only one is used. The other two are still in the box, the highest proportion of unused equipment in the country, equivalent to 66.7%. The Southeast Region has 669 of mammography available in the SUS, and the state of São Paulo is responsible for 335 (309 running). In Minas Gerais, of the 211 aircraft, 36 are dead - the largest absolute number of equipment out of operation throughout the country. According to the survey, the North is the region with the least amount of equipment and also with the highest percentage of units without use. Of the 86 existing mammography, 20 are stopped (23.3%), 14 because of defects. Roraima (two) and Santa Catarina (64) are the only states that all mammography are working. According to the Ministry of Health, the total number of mammography in the SUS is sufficient to meet women 40 to 59 years. The National Cancer Institute (Inca) recommends one unit for every 240 000 inhabitants. The universal offer of the test is not due to the concentration of the equipment in metropolitan areas and low productivity, according to the ministry. The auditors found that 28% of establishments in SUS has updated information about mammography service. Considering the results, the ministry intends to with states and municipalities, install mammography in places that do not have the equipment. The folder also aims to equip mobile units with the unit to meet women in the rural cities. The ministry should also make according to the suppliers to provide technical assistance to mammography. It is planned to train 25 000 radiology technicians by 2015. "We want to double the number of tests per year [3 to 6 million]," Fulgencio said. Mammography is a fundamental test to identify early breast cancer - the leading cause of death for women in Brazil.