Dialysis is a life-saving therapy that can replace the work of non-functioning kidneys.
The quality of dialysis care in Ghana is under threat due to the limited number of dialysis centres.
In light of this, Dr. George Peprah, a medical superintendent at Takoradi Hospital speaking in an interview on Beach FM’s Western Echo has stated categorically that there is no dialysis unit at the Takoradi Hospital.
Dr. Peprah attributed this to the exorbitant cost involved in setting up a dialysis treatment unit.
“We look at the cost in setting up such a venture, it’s quite huge. And then you look at such a high end kind of service which is cost intensive that even a big body like Korle-Bu is struggling, then you want to be careful the little the funds you have to run the basic services you are providing. You don’t push it into a venture that you may not even get any returns for it”.
Dr. Peprah lamented the fact that patients who visit some hospitals in Takoradi seeking dialysis treatment have to be referred to hospitals out of the region with dialysis units.
He said he has “had some discussions with my management team about the prospects of having the unit in-house.”
He continued saying plans and discussions of setting up a dialysis unit are in their inception stage even though the infrastructure needed to keep such a unit running is expensive.
“Most of the time we have to refer to Effia Nkwanta. Before Effia Nkwanta had their own we were referring to Cape Coast and Accra, and the inconvenience was so much. When we have such patients there is little we can do but if you have it in-house then it would have been easier to just implement it for the patient”.
Dr. Peprah says the entirety of the situation should not be solely left on the government to fix.
He proposed an approach for hospital management at local levels to find solutions to problems at hand and seek the required approval from authorities before going ahead with the service implementation.
“If we are all to just push everything up it will be difficult, so at the local level, try to look for something and when it is becoming possible then you ask your superiors for approval”.
In dealing with the inadequacy of dialysis equipment, Dr. Peprah proposed that the leaders of the country establish treatment centres, possibly in every region, to reduce the suffering of patients and also subsidize the dialysis problem.
Dr. Peprah further expressed hope of dialysis centres being established in Takoradi in a few years to cater to persons with renal diseases.
“There is hope and I’m happy we’re talking about it because once we start talking about it, then we look for the solutions to it and I believe two, three years to come, these centres will come up”.
