#TrendingGH: Government must absorb the cost of treatment for persons with kidney failure

Dialysis is a life-saving treatment for countless individuals, especially those with kidney failure. Any changes in its affordability and accessibility resonate deeply with the public.

On September 26, 2023, a notice on the increase in the price of Dialysis was circulating on social media.

The notice on the increment in the cost of dialysis showed that it had been raised from GH¢380 per session to GH¢765.42.

The management of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital through a statement responded to say that the cost as seen is yet to get parliamentary approval.

Some individuals who spoke with GhanaWeb TV bemoaned the intended increment.

They said that the current fees being changed are already taking a toll on persons who are undergoing the treatment and an increase will make it worse.

According to them, the government should absorb the cost of persons with kidney failure to reduce the cost involved in treatment.

"To be frank, I was shocked. Because this one, it is between life and death. They should have even reduced the price instead of increasing and if they say that some are not there, the government should purchase some because the hospital lacks medicine and they need it. So now imagine one is GH¢765 and you need to take it like 3 times, just do the multiplication and see meaning people are going to die so government should do something about it," one individual who spoke with GhanaWeb TV said.

Another also shared that "I felt it was too much since the kidney is what is supporting us as human beings but on a second note you realise that people are selling out their kidneys for money and such things I feel is to deter them because at the end of the day if you are riding on one kidney and the treatment is much expensive you wouldn't really and necessarily give out your kidney just like that but this inflation in the cost of dialysis treatment to me to an extent is to deter people from selling out their kidneys and just like we have the blood hub. But in Ghana, the issue is you will donate and maintenance. If we have the systems put in place to ensure that these organs are well-maintained and all, I think I'll go in but Ghana as we speak now, I don't think we're at that stage where we can be maintaining those organs."

Watch some submissions on dialysis treatment with GhanaWeb's William Partey here:



NW/NOQ