The Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Health Policy Research and Analysis, Dr. Thomas Anaba is urging President Akufo-Addo to call the Chief Executive Officer of Korle-bu Hospital Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah to order.
This is on the back of an arbitrary increment in the cost of dialysis.
Management of the hospital has increased the cost of dialysis from 380 to 491 cedis, indicating it is not enough to cover the cost of operations.
Today patients who thronged the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for dialysis had to cough up an extra 111 cedis to foot their bills or be turned away. Confusion is erupting over the recent increase in the cost of dialysis at public hospitals across the country as stakeholders continue to shift the blame.
It follows what management says is in line with parliamentary approval of a new fee of 491 cedis from the previous 380 cedis.
In September last year, the hospital announced an increment from 380 to 765 cedis but this was quickly shot down after a huge public outcry as parliament’s subsidiary legislation committee noted it had not sanctioned any such increase.
Well, this has been fiercely contested by the subsidiary legislation committee who say they did not approve any such fees but referred the matter to the finance ministry to cut out the tax component on the cost of reagents among others to ensure the cost of dialysis is drastically reduced.
The committee was thus surprised at the figure of 491 questioning what transpired between the Ministry of Finance and the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
Speaking to Starr News, Dr. Anaba urged the government to cushion 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
Meanwhile, Public Health Analyst James McKeown Amoah has called for support from corporate organizations to incur some costs for renal patients.
President of the Renal Patients Association of Ghana Kojo Baffour Ahenkorah wants parliament to take a second look at the increment if indeed it approved it.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Benjamin Sackey
