People have blocked my number – Renal patients in despair after increase in cost of dialysis treatment

Thousands of renal patients across the country are in despair following the increase in the cost of dialysis treatment from GH¢380 to GH¢491 per session.

Renal patients require three sessions of dialysis every week to remove waste by-products and excess fluid from the blood because their kidneys have stopped working properly. However, a significant number of them, due to the worsening economic conditions in the country, cannot afford the required three dialysis sessions a week at the previous cost of GH¢360 per session.

Most could afford only one or two sessions per week to have some energy to go about their daily activities without suffering a medical crisis that could cost them their lives.

GhanaWeb’s visit to the Renal Unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, after the recent increase in the cost of dialysis, showed that the increment had left many renal patients in misery, with many having to go back home because they could not afford the new cost of the dialysis treatment.

One of the patients, an elderly woman, who spoke to GhanaWeb said that she had to beg on the street to get extra money for the treatment.

She said that all her relatives have blocked her number because they are tired of her constant requests for money. She, therefore, urged the government to include dialysis treatment in the country’s National Health Insurance Scheme.

“I usually have two sessions every week, but when I came on Sunday, the price had changed, so I went home. However, today I was able to get the treatment; I paid GH¢491, and they said they would not reduce it. Therefore, it is the government who can reduce it for us.

“People have blocked my number because I continuously ask for help from them. I had to sit on the streets to beg for money to top up for this session. So, I’m begging, please help us, help us,” the woman said as she was sobbing.

Another patient, Raphael, said that even when the cost of the treatment was GH¢380, he was only able to afford one session instead of the required three per week.

He indicated that he was still in the hospital because he had not been able to pay for his last dialysis session.

The president of the Renal Patients Association of Ghana, Baffuor Kojo Ahenkorah, who also spoke to GhanaWeb, urged the government to approve the GH¢2 million the National Health Insurance Authority has indicated would be used to support renal patients, following the increase in the cost of dialysis.

“On Monday, about five people didn’t have dialysis; they went back home because they didn’t have the money. Yesterday, about six patients did not turn up for their session because they don’t have the money.

“Today is the same. Go inside and see, the beds are empty because people are not coming for treatment. I’m just praying I don’t hear any bad news this week that I have lost a patient,” he told GhanaWeb's Ishmael Batoma.

In September 2023, the Renal Unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital which provides dialysis treatment to persons with malfunctioning kidneys from across Ghana, made news headlines after the cost of the treatment was increased from GH¢380 to GH¢765.

The then Minister for Health, Kweku Agyemang Manu, and the hospital’s leadership were summoned by the Parliament of Ghana over the increment. Amid the brouhaha surrounding the increment, the Renal Unit was closed with the management of the hospital citing its rising cost of operation and accumulated debts, which, according to reports, resulted in the death of at least 18 people as a result of them not receiving their much-needed dialysis treatment.

The unit was subsequently reopened with the cost of dialysis treatment reverting to the original GH¢380. However, confirmed reports indicate that the cost of the treatment was increased to GH¢491, as of Sunday, May 12, 2024.

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