The Minority in Parliament has told the government to immediately open the Renal Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
The Minority spokesperson on Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, said the failure to open the Renal Unit is having a negative impact on persons with kidney problems.
Recently, the Renal Patients Association revealed that a total of 14 outpatients of the renal unit died after it was closed to them in May 2023.
A spokesperson for the Association, Michael Asante, told journalists at a press conference in Accra last week that the inability of the patients to afford dialysis treatment at private health centres caused the deaths.
“As we speak, the renal unit has been closed since 22 May 2023 up to date to outpatients,” Asante said. “Patients have gone through turbulent times as we struggle to finance our dialysis treatment at private dialysis centers across the centres.
“Unfortunately, during this shutdown period, we have lost about 14 of our friends…This has left the rest of us living in constant fear for our tomorrow. This is because we do not know who amongst us will be next to lose their lives needlessly.”
Addressing the press in Accra on Monday, October 16, Mr Akandoh who is also a lawmaker for Juaboso said “we have gone a step further to meet the Minister responsible for Health to tell him that whatever it takes by the government to make sure that the renal unit of Kole Bu is opened must be done.
“The minister assured us that as soon as possible he was going to let them open the renal unit OPD but for the past five months the renal unit has not been opened. We think that as a matter of urgency, whatever it takes or wherever we can get the resources to open we have to, we have Covid levies, we have money that has been squandered through Covid, we have NHIL, this is an emergency.”
He added “The government, as a matter of urgency, must put measures in place, if there is a need to absorb it completely it should be done, if there is the need to provide subsidies it should be done but we must not delay because people need these services.”