The newly established dialysis Center at the Eastern Regional Hospital has been Commissioned and opened to the public.
The dialysis center which is the first of a kind in the Eastern region will serve over 3 million population of the region.
The establishment of the center is timely due to increasing cases of kidney diseases in the region in recent times.
The kidneys are critical organs in human bodies, removing waste and excess water and controlling the acidity balance in the blood.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects the kidneys’ abilities to perform these essential functions and can be caused by high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, smoking, and other risk factors.
It is estimated that one in three people in the general population is at increased risk of CKD. Although an estimated 10% to 14% of people worldwide have CKD, estimates suggest 9 in 10 of those are unaware of their condition.
The Ghana Health Service has expressed worry about rising incidences of Chronic Kidney diseases in the country making it among the top ten causes of death.
The Eastern Regional Hospital, for instance, recorded 43 acute cases of kidney diseases referred from the wards in 2021 however the hospital did not have a dialysis center hence patients were either left to die or referred to Korle But to queue for dialysis services.
The establishment of the dialysis center at the Hospital commissioned on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, has resolved all these challenges kidney patients faced.
Three out of the four world-class dialysis machines were donated through the collaboration of the BDAC Ghana Foundation and the late Dr. Fredua Agyemang Ofori-Atta family in the USA.
The Medical Director at the Eastern Regional Hospital Dr. Akoto Ampaw said the impact of the dialysis center which has been in operation a few weeks ago has been life-saving.
“The impact has been so tremendous, for me the more important ones are the acute cases where somebody’s kidney shuts down for a period and all that person needs is one section maximum three sections to begin to reverse all the problems that the person has had and in those sections, they can gain back their function of the kidney and then they go on to live their lives.
Especially in the pregnant women who as a result of the pregnancy develop hypertension which complicates the kidney leading to acute urinal failure, these women are put on the machine and we reverse the trend, we can confidently say that we can pass the catheter and the lines that will allow us to put the patient on the machine”
The Eastern Regional Minister Seth Kwame Acheampong commended the family of Dr. Fredua Agyemang Ofori Atta for donating the equipment. He was hopeful; the dialysis center would help save the lives of kidney patients in the region.
Some kidney patients and family members were elated about the new facility. They however lamented the high cost of dialysis services and appealed to the government for support to subsidize the cost of dialysis services.
Source: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Obed Ansah
