By Dr. Thomas Anaba, Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Health Policy Research and Analysis, is calling on President Akufo-Addo to intervene by directing Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah, Chief Executive Officer of Korle-bu Hospital, to address the dialysis crisis.
This follows an arbitrary rise in the cost of dialysis services.
The hospital’s management has raised the cost of dialysis from 380 to 491 cedis, citing inadequate coverage of operational expenses.
Today, patients seeking dialysis treatment at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital were unexpectedly required to pay an additional 111 cedis to cover their bills, or risk being denied treatment. Confusion has ensued over the recent surge in dialysis costs at public hospitals nationwide, with stakeholders deflecting responsibility.
This development aligns with management’s assertion that the increase is consistent with parliamentary approval of a new fee structure, up from the previous 380 cedis.
Last September, the hospital attempted to implement a hike from 380 to 765 cedis. However, this proposal was swiftly rejected following widespread public outcry, with parliament’s subsidiary legislation committee clarifying that it had not endorsed such an increase.
However, the subsidiary legislation committee vehemently disputes this claim, asserting that they did not endorse any fee increase. Instead, they referred the issue to the Ministry of Finance with the aim of removing the tax component from the cost of reagents, among other measures, to significantly reduce the overall cost of dialysis.
The committee expressed bewilderment at the sudden emergence of the 491 cedi figure, questioning the interactions between the Ministry of Finance and Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
In an interview with Starr News, Dr. Anaba urged the government to provide support for renal patients.
“Government must cushion renal patients. They shouldn’t promise some monies in NHIA and we don’t know where the money is going and patients are still grubbling. The leader of the country must call the Finance Ministry and the Chief Executive Officer of Korle-Bu to order”
“Other African country’s dialysis fees are subsidized. This is where the government must take the bull by the horns and have compassion on these patients and get all the measures put in place to make dialysis cheap,” he added
In the meantime, Public Health Analyst James McKeown Amoah is advocating for corporate organizations to step in and assist with covering some of the expenses for renal patients.
Kojo Baffour Ahenkorah, President of the Renal Patients Association of Ghana, is urging Parliament to revisit the issue of the fee increase if indeed it had given its approval.
