By Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, Ranking Member of Parliament’s Health Committee, has expressed skepticism regarding the long-term viability of the National Health Insurance Authority’s initiative to offer complimentary dialysis sessions for kidney patients aged under 18 and over 60 years old.
Commencing from June 1 until December 2024, renal patients will benefit from receiving all eight dialysis sessions per month at no cost. However, Mr. Akandoh suggests that instead of providing free sessions, the government should consider subsidizing the fees associated with dialysis treatments.
The NHIA additionally declared that individuals with kidney ailments aged between 19 and 59 years will be entitled to two complimentary dialysis sessions per month.
During a media interview, Mr. Mintah Akandoh emphasized the necessity for the government to formulate a sustainable funding strategy for dialysis sessions for patients nationwide.
“The patients deserve better, and the government can come in [to help]. If you look at the payment or the purchase of vaccines, sometimes the National Health Insurance pays something and the government will also come in to pay counterpart funding, so this is not sustainable.
“It is only for six months and it is so because we are in the election period. All this while we have not heard the vice president speak about this.
“It is political because after December, there is no plan, so you go back to paying what you used to pay. And in actual fact, it has increased from GH¢380 to GH¢491.”
