Renal patients at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital have threatened to picket at the Renal Unit on Wednesday, August 21, 2024, to protest the failure of authorities to clear important consumables stuck at the Tema Port.
The consumables shortage has forced the unit to close for three weeks, depriving patients of vital medical care.
The Public Relations Officer at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Mustapha Salifu, clarified in an interview that the closure resulted from the shortage but assured that efforts are being made to clear the consumables and resume outpatient dialysis treatments.
However, the Renal Patients Association’s spokesperson, Kojo Baffour Ahenkora, expressed frustration, accusing the government of lacking urgency in resolving the issue, which he says is putting patients’ lives at serious risk.
Mr. Ahenkorah also shed light on the financial burden on patients, who are forced to pay GH¢800 per session for private dialysis, a cost many cannot afford.
The patients are demanding immediate intervention from the government, particularly the Minister of Finance and the GRA boss, to expedite the release of the essential supplies from the Tema Harbour. They have vowed to picket and remain at the hospital until their demands are met.
“It’s very expensive, very expensive. This morning, 800 Ghana cedis for a session. Most of us are supposed to do it twice or three times a week. Where are we going to get the money from? It’s only the government sector or Korle Bu, that makes 400 cedis, which is not even cheap—almost close to 500 in a session.”
“Please, Dr. Okoe Boye. Minister of Finance and then GRA boss, we beg them. The consumables are in the country, which is why they were able to release the 20-footer container, which also contains part of the consumables that we need,” he noted in an interview monitored by The Ghana Report on Channel One TV.
He continued, “But the main one that we need at the cabin where we are standing right now is the one at the port, so we beg them. Whatever the case, we beg them. If not, then by Wednesday, we are picketing here.
“All the renal dialysis patients are coming to sleep here until we receive the consumables from Tema Port because we cannot keep on going through this thing.”
Story By Grace Tsotsoo Quaye
