n average, European countries possess 17 MRI machines per one million people. With only 9.4 MRI machines per million people, France ranks between Portugal and Turkey, putting it among the least well-equipped in Europe, according to the Société Française de Radiologie.
It’s not a flattering assessment and quite a paradox that in the MRI stakes its rank is so lowly, considering that France is the European country that spends the most on healthcare – second only to Germany. France has four times less MRI machines than neighbouring Germany and two times less than Spain or Italy. In all, some 592 MRI scanners are operational (40 were installed only last year), which is simply insufficient according to radiology experts. France stands far behind Japan, or the USA, for the best rate of equipment and falls far below its own national programme to combat cancer (Plan Cancer 2009- 2013).
For the optimum handling of the disease, this recommended the availability of 10 MRI scanners per one million people by 2011 and a maximum of 10 to 15 days wait for patients. In reality, the average wait still remained at 32.2 days in 2011, compared to 34.5 days in 2009, and up to 55 days – almost two months – in the most underprivileged areas (Pays de la Loire, Poitou-Charente or Alsace). Considering the ageing population, which leads to new patho logies and new needs, it is considered that 63% of the French population is subjected to a waiting time exceeding 30 days, compared to 50% in 2006. Since its creation in 1999, the ISA (Imagerie Santé Avenir), which gathers medical imaging information, has annually evaluated the delay before obtaining an MRI appointment. After having repeatedly pointed out the French backwardness in terms of equipment, in recent years ISA has been even more preoccupied by the increasing geographic inequalities. In some areas of the country patients might wait up to 75 days!
