The Renal Patients Association of Ghana has raised concerns about the increment in dialysis cost surge from GH¢380 to GH¢491.
The Association has said the increment will deepen the financial strain on patients who are already struggling to pay their bills.
“It is going to affect us big time. One, we don’t even have the GH¢380, and people have stopped coming. I mean, they are not able to do their normal regular two or three sessions. And now if you move it to GH¢491, what is going to happen? Four or five people could not do their dialysis and they went home because they didn’t have the money, so it is a big challenge to us. We just don’t know what to do now,” The spokesperson, Major Baffour Kojo Ahenkorah told Accra-based Citi TV.
Ghanaians, particularly patients on dialysis treatment, lamented when the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital’s Renal Dialysis Unit on Wednesday, September 27, 2023 announced an increase from GH¢380 to GHS¢765.42 per dialysis session.
The Minority Caucus in Parliament described the increase as illegal and outrageous and called on the Hospital to immediately reverse the increase.
However, with the price increment reportedly backed by parliamentary approval, Major Ahenkorah has said the association will engage the House when it resumes sitting on Friday.
“We are being told that the new price is coming from Parliament. And because Parliament is on recess, we are waiting for them to resume, but we learned they are coming Friday for a sitting, so we are trying to get the Parliamentary Select Committee from the House to have a discussion with them, and then we will see the way forward. But before then, we are appealing to all organizations to support us because we cannot foot the bill,” he stated.
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