asked the Minister for Health if he will state (1) how many radiographic machines for tuberculosis preventative examination are in use; (2) how many are on order and of these how many are portable; (3) what deliveries are anticipated within the present financial year; (4) how many persons submitted themselves for examination in the Dublin area during 1947, and (5) how many cases of positive tuberculosis thus ascertained were followed up in 1947 and with what results.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Radiographic Machines.
Twenty-six x-ray units and 29 fluoroscopes are operated by health authorities. In addition, there are 21 x-ray units in voluntary hospitals which are utilised for, inter alia, diagnostic purposes.
One fluoroscope and three x-ray units, of which one is portable, are at present on order by health authorities and will, it is anticipated, be delivered in the current financial year.
Eight thousand, nine hundred and twenty-five persons were x-rayed in 1947 at the Dublin Corporation's mass radiography centre. One hundred and sixty-four positive cases of tuberculosis were diagnosed and were referred for appropriate treatment to the tuberculosis clinics operating under the county borough scheme.