This was disclosed by the Public Relations Officer of the Health Ministry, Isaac Offei Baah while speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Newsnight.
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Kidney disease: Akufo-Addo directs Health Ministry to migrate dialysis costs onto NHIS
President Akufo-Addo has directed the Ministry of Health to migrate the cost of dialysis onto the National Health Insurance bracket to give respite to kidney disease patients.
Kidney disease: Akufo-Addo directs Health Ministry to migrate dialysis costs onto NHIS
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“About two weeks ago, His Excellency the President directed that we should migrate the dialysis cost on the National Health Insurance bracket. When that happens, it can also be part of the interventions. I am not saying that I am directing that dialysis cost should be moved to NHI but I am saying that as a base to explain the situation,” myjoyonline.com quotes him as saying.
According to Offei Baah, the government is acting to help subsidize the cost of dialysis after realizing the hardships renal patients have been facing in recent months.
He added that to minimize out-of-pocket costs, the Ministry is also looking into ways to guarantee that the government can subsidize hospital payments for people with kidney disease.
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He stated that the ministry and the Korle Bu Hospital Teaching Hospital (KBTH) management were meeting to discuss how to run the hospital and keep it out of debt.
The Renal Unit of the country’s premier hospital had been shut to outpatients for about five months until a couple of days ago. Outpatients had been unable to access the unit since May 22, 2023, which forced them to look for dialysis services elsewhere, primarily in private healthcare facilities.
On September 27 of this year, the facility declared that the cost of dialysis treatment would increase from GH¢380 to GHS¢765.42 each session. The announcement sparked public outcry as kidney patients lamented they could not afford the revised fees, which have not yet received parliamentary approval.
The KBTH's administration declared in a statement on November 7 that its Renal Unit would once again be open to outpatients effective Monday, November 6.
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