Mintah Akandoh denies Parliament’s approval of new dialysis fees set by KBTH

Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Member of Parliament for Juaboso, has denied claims that Parliament approved the new dialysis fees implemented by the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH).

This denial follows KBTH’s recent fee increase for dialysis treatment, raising the cost from GH¢380 to GH¢491.

The Renal Patients Association of Ghana has expressed concerns that this hike will worsen the financial burden on patients already struggling to pay their bills.

In an interview on May 14, Mr. Akandoh, who also serves as the Ranking Member on the Health Committee of Parliament, clarified that the House did not sanction the new fees.

“We never agreed at the committee level that the cost of dialysis must be increased. What happened was that the Ministry of Finance must waive all taxes on the [regent] of dialysis. So, it came to me as a shock when all the media houses were calling to tell me that fees had been increased. I don’t get it. 

“Then, when you talk about that they make it sound as though parliament that has done some proposal and has gone ahead to approve it,” he stated.