The Renal Patients Association of Ghana has called on the management of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) to reopen the renal unit to outpatients, warning that some patients are dying due to the closure.
The call comes after the minority caucus of the Health Committee of Parliament gave the hospital a 24-hour ultimatum to reopen the unit, but the management refused.
The unit was reportedly closed due to a shortage of consumables.
However, Kojo Ahenkorah, the spokesperson for the Renal Patients Association of Ghana, told Citi News in an interview on Tuesday that several patients are dying each week because they cannot afford to go to private hospitals for dialysis treatment.
“Almost every week somebody is dying,” Ahenkorah said.
“I keep saying if the unit was opened and we were going maybe our labs would show. Because the person is struggling to get money and go and do it at a private hospital, so he will not do the lab.”
“But if we were doing it at Korle Bu, the labs will show, maybe take this place is not good, go and do this or that. Now the person is struggling to go and do it outside. The lab is not also something cheap too, he is looking at GH¢200 to GH¢300. So if the person has that he will have to keep the money add some to it and go and do the dialysis. What type of country are we in and what leaders do we have at all?” he stated.
