Private legal practitioner, Kofi Bentil, has called for the removal of taxes on dialysis-related items in Ghana.
He says there is no need to raise revenue from someone struggling with death.
“There’s a special place in hell for all who raise revenue from the misery of people struggling with death itself. Abolish all taxes on dialysis-related items!” the Vice President of Imani Africa wrote on Facebook.
Similarly, the Africa Centre for Tax Policy Research (ACTOR) also called for the same action to be taken, which is the removal of taxes on the items.
Commenting on the issue, ACTOR said it has “taken note of the discussions in the media highlighting that over 90% of Ghanaian kidney failure patients either cannot afford dialysis, due to its high cost, or lack access to it.
“Currently, dialysis consumable items such as Dialysers, Introducer Needle, AV Fistula Needle, Blood Tubing Set, Transducer Protector, Single Lumen Hemodialysis Catheter, Double Lumen Hemodialysis Catheter, and Triple Lumen Hemodialysis Catheter currently incur a minimum of 5% import duty and taxes under the First Schedule of the Customs Act, 2015 (Act 891), as amended, classified under the HS Code heading 90.18. The added expenses due to these taxes are often transferred to patients in the form of higher prices.
“ACTOR firmly believes that these consumables should be exempt from all taxes and levies, to make Dialysis treatment more affordable for all individuals suffering kidney malfunction,” it stated.
Former President John Dramani Mahama also made a similar appeal to the government to remove the taxes.
“Given the opportunity, we shall bring relief to thousands of our citizens suffering from these ailments.
“The explanation I have read from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital cites the increase in taxes and duties of materials for dialysis treatment as the main reason for their decision to hike the price by a hundred percent.
“As an immediate measure, I call on the government to exempt medication and kits for dialysis treatment from taxes and duties to maintain this critical lifeline for patients whose survival depends on these treatments,” he said when he delivered an address at the first Ghana Aging conference and commemoration of the International Day of Older Persons in Accra on Sunday, October 1.
These concerns followed the sudden U-turn by the Renal Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital on the upward review of the cost of dialysis.
A notice was issued, announcing an increase in cost from GH¢380 to GH¢765.42.
However, Chief Executive of the Hospital Dr Opoku Ware Ampomah later indicated that the notice was just a proposal and yet to be approved by Parliament.
It was subsequently withdrawn even though some patients had already been forced to pay the new cost.
Mr Akenkorah said since the Korle Bu CEO came out, the Unit has been closed to out-patients and already 15 of them have died.
He said most of them cannot afford treatment in private hospitals and consider Korle Bu’s services top-notch.
“The kind of treatment Korle Bu gives us is top-notch,” he confessed to host Alfred Ocansey.
“The clearance is very good, the water treatment is very good but please these are human lives, people are dying. They should open the unit to the OPD. People are dying.”