Kidney Disease: Pressure Mounts On Western Region Hospitals Treating Renal Patients
- The Western Region has been struggling to cater for renal patients who require dialysis treatment
- A Nephrology Nurse Specialist with Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital, Elizabeth Elorm Azalekor, outlined, renal treatment challenges to YEN.com.gh
- Data indicates that the Western Region has the least dialysis machines relative to its population
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Pressure is mounting on the only two government hospitals that offer dialysis treatment to renal patients in the Western Region.
Elizabeth Elorm Azalekor, Nephrology Nurse Specialist with Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital, noted to YEN.com.gh that National Health Insurance Scheme’s coverage of dialysis treatement has contributed to pressure on the limited renal units.
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“Hitherto when it was not free, the competition between the government sector and the private sector was a little high. Since the introduction of free dialysis, the majority of the patients have moved to the government sector and that shift brings much pressure.”
Concern has also been raised about rising incidences of kidney disease cases.
Azalekor attributed the increase in cases to poorly controlled diabetes, hypertension and activities related to illegal mining.
“Western Region, I will say we are not doing that good. The numbers keep increasing daily. Every day we have cases that pop up.”
Painting a gloomy picture, she said the majority of the cases are mostly reported by young men involved in illegal mining with cases often at the end stage where the only management is to put them on dialysis or kidney transplant.
According to Azalekor, as of March 12, 2025, the recently launched renal unit of the Takoradi Hospital had received about 30 clients.
The Takoradi Hospital, also known as European Hospital, is able to undertake 10 to 14 dialysis sessions a day with the only two functional machines available.
The Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital attends to 50 patients with end-stage kidney disease in some months.
About 10 people with kidney-related diseases by December 2024 were reported dead according to Azalekor.
The Western Region, which has over two million residents, notably has the lowest number of dialysis machines with 0.97 machines per million population.
More support needed for renal units
According to Kidney Health International, global estimates suggest that Ghana should have around 15,400 patients requiring dialysis but only 1,195 patients are receiving dialysis.
To address these shortfalls in the Western Region, Azalekor suggested that assistance must be given to other health facilities in the region to acquire dialysis machines.
This she said will go a long way to ease the pressure on the machines which are likely to fail at any given time.
Azalekor also called on churches and corporate institutions to help with the acquisition of dialysis equipment.
Construction work is underway on the redevelopment of the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital, which is expected to come with a significant upgrade to its renal unit.
Azalekor said, sensitisation is ongoing unabated to create awareness on the disease and its preventive measures.
KNUST students build dialysis machine
YEN.com.gh reported that three KNUST students built an automated peritoneal dialysis machine as part of their final-year project back in November 2024.
The three students are Martin Kwarteng, Theodora Gyambra, and Benjamin Yeboah.
The students noted that they wanted to address the issue of inadequate dialysis machines in the country.
Yeboah acknowledged that accessing government-owned machines is often very expensive due to the small number of dialysis machines.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
