Ms Nancy Abedi, a Dialysis Nurse at the International Maritime Hospital (IMaH) in Tema, on Friday expressed concern over the increasing number of kidney diseases being recorded at the hospital and called for sensitisation to reduce its prevalence.
On average, about two chronic kidney diseases were diagnosed daily at IMaH, where a high number of patients are already on dialysis, who undergo over 500 sessions in a month.
Ms Abedi dismissed the myth that the disease was ‘a sickness for the rich’ and said subsidies in its treatment were needed to ensure the vulnerable accessed care.
‘I have patients who are in the middle class, unemployed, with some as young as 23 years. It has no class preference, the poor and the rich are all prone to it,’ she said.
Ms Abedi was speaking in Tema on the Ghana News Agency’s health platform, dubbed: ‘Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility!’, an initiative aimed at promoting communication on health-related topics and setting the medium for public education.
It is estimated that one out of every 10 people might have some kidney disease that they might be unaware of, hence the need for education to ensure healthy lifestyles to reduce the trend, she said.
Inspite of the prevalence of the disease, most regions lacked dialysis centres to cater for patients, making some of them travel long distances to access care.
Ms Abedi said, for instance, that it was just recently that the Volta Region had one centre, while the Eastern Region, among others, did not have any.
The Tema area currently has five centres, all privately owned, with a high cost of treatment, she said.
A session of dialysis costs not less than GHC600.00 presently, and a patient needs at least three dialysis sessions in a week to flush out the toxins and extra water from their systems since their kidneys were unable to perform that function.
Mr Francis Ameyibor, the Tema Regional Manager, GNA, appealed to corporate institutions and philanthropists to consider adopting district hospitals and providing support to set up dialysis centres.
‘Helping to improve the health delivery system when one has the capacity is a noble cause… Saving a life is a godly obligation to all mankind,’ he added.
Source: Ghana News Agency