The Korle Bu Renal Dialysis Unit remains closed to outpatients despite a directive from the Ministry of Health for it to be opened immediately.
Sources at the hospital say some measures would have to be put in place first before the reopening can be done.
Information gathered by JoyNews upon a visit to the hospital revealed that no communique of reopening has been received by authorities.
Also, there ought to be consultations for a successful rollout, but that has not been done.
In an interview on Joy FM on Thursday, the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health, Isaac Offei Baah announced the reopening of the Dialysis Unit to OPD patients.
According to him, the unit was opened on the back of the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu’s directive which is expected to take effect immediately.
Speaking on Joy FM’s midday news on November 2, the PRO said “The Honorable Minister has directed the Chief Executive of Korle Bu to as a matter of urgency make the place opened and issue a statement for Ghanaians to know that the place is opened.”
The dialysis unit was shut down in May 2023 due to a delay in the delivery of some consumables and an outstanding GH₵4 million cedis debt.
After the facility was shut, about 19 deaths have been recorded as a result of patients’ inability to access dialysis treatment at private centres, which is more expensive than the treatment offered at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
This is according to the Renal Patients Association.
However, it appears the dialysis unit remains shut despite the so-called ministerial directive.
In a related development, the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Mohammed Amin Adam has bemoaned the situation dialysis patients have to go through.
He said it is unacceptable for Ghanaians with kidney failure to go through what they are experiencing while assuring that the government will find a way to deal with the situation before next week.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin has summoned the Health Minister to brief the House on the closure of the Renal Dialysis Unit to outpatients as well as the upsurge in kidney-related diseases in the country.