Cost Of Dialysis In Ghana: Professor Frimpong-Boateng Backs Korle Bu's Decision To Hike Charges

• Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has defended Korle Bu's decision to increase the cost of dialysis treatment
• The respected heart surgeon has said the steep rise in the cost of input for the treatment makes it mandatory to make the unpopular decision
• Korle Bu also said high port charges and taxes charged by the government on its imports of critical equipment are to blame for the high cost of dialysis treatment

Renowned heart surgeon Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has justified a decision by Korle Bu Teaching Hospital to double the cost of dialysis treatment.

Dialysis helps to clean the blood of persons whose kidneys are not able to do so. The treatment helps the body remove waste and extra fluids from the blood of patients.

The decision by the mega public hospital to increase the cost of the life-saving treatment from GHS¢380 to GHS¢765.42 received public backlash, compelling the hospital to explain that it was only a suggestion.

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A photo of a notice announcing the price hike went viral on social media, the hospital released a statement on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, explaining that any proposed fee increase would be forwarded to Parliament through the Ministry of Health for approval.

However, commenting on the matter that is only recently dying down, Prof Frimpong-Boateng, who founded the National Cardiothoracic Centre, said Korle Bu is justified to increase the cost of dialysis.

"The inputs are very expensive. If it costs about GH¢800 to GH¢1000 to render a service, you can’t charge GH¢380 or GH¢400," Joy News quoted him.

Prof Frimpong-Boateng's justification is similar to one by the hospital not long ago.

He said although many Ghanaians with kidney diseases cannot afford the dialysis treatment, "somebody has to pay for it".

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"It is not the fault of the hospital, they are not going to make a profit out of it,” he added.

Korle Bu said high port charges and taxes charged by the government on its imports of critical equipment are to blame for the high cost of dialysis treatment.

Professor Frimpong-Boateng lists everything wrong under Akufo-Addo govt

Meanwhile, YEN.ocm.gh has reported in a separate story that Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng called out Nana Akufo-Addo's administration for the worsening impunity in the NPP.

The former minister chronicled all the rot in the current government in an open letter triggered by an attack on a radio station by NPP supporters.

He stated that the impunity under the current administration has arisen partly because of a special blend of family, friends and concubines calling the shots.

Source: YEN.com.gh