Health minister, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, has revealed that the finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has approved the disbursement of GHC4 million to support renal patients at the Korle-Bu Teaching hospital.

According to him, the challenges encountered by Korle-Bu has led to the accrual of the debt.

He indicated that it also remains a fact that the current charge of GHC380 for dialysis is insufficient to enable the Renal Treatment Unit (RTU) generate enough revenue to fulfill its full obligations under the contract with FMC, especially as it does not have a hedged exchange rate per annum regime.

This, Mr Agyemang-Manu stated, has compromised the ability of the RTU to raise the funds required to pay for consumables from FMC promptly.

Again, he stated that due to the high incidence of patients requiring dialysis, the total cost of care keeps rising, adding to the accumulation of debt.

“The Ministry of Health has since requested the Ministry of Finance to settle the total indebtedness of GHS4 million and the good news is that the Minister of Finance has just approved the disbursement of this GH¢4 million to support our patients in Korle-Bu.”
Kwaku Agyemang-Manu

Inclusion of renal patients on NHIS

Furthermore, the health minister noted that currently, patients on dialysis are not on the National Health Insurance Scheme.

In light of this, he underscored that the Korle-Bu Teaching hospital in consultation with the ministry of health, has initiated discussion with FMC for review of the current contract for more flexible payment options and a more structured supply of consumables to avoid excessive delays.

Additionally, he highlighted that the discussion is also to help ensure delivery of the outstanding 45 dialysis machines and auxiliary equipment to boost the services being rendered.

“In the meantime, the RTU has been opened to the public since Monday, 6th November 2023, to add patients as directed by the ministry.”
Kwaku Agyemang-Manu

Commenting on the way forward to forestall the recurrence of the unfortunate incident associated with the treatment of renal patients permanently, Mr Agyemang-Manu indicated that the ministry in collaboration with Korle-Bu and the ministry of finance is considering the possible inclusion of dialysis on the National Health Insurance benefit package.

Also, he noted that another alternative which is under consideration is the granting of subsidies based on proposal received from Korle-Bu and the possible review of tariffs to ensure sustainability of the service.

That notwithstanding, he lamented the service charge for treatment of renal patients at Korle-Bu in comparison to that of private health facilities which charge between GHC800 and GHC1,300 for just a session of dialysis.

“The decisions on the options enumerated will be announced as soon as practicable.”
Kwaku Agyemang-Manu

Meanwhile, a Member of the Health Committee of Parliament, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, has called off an investigation into the inability of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital’s (KBTH) to run and sustain the renal unit.

He revealed that the health facility might have self-inflicted its debt situation because it wrongly entered into an agreement with a supplier who provided machines and consumables at a cost twice as much as sold on the market.

“The committee when we took the initiative with our leadership, we realized that Korle Bu went and signed an agreement where the dialysis machine was offered by a manufacturer who signed a contract that they would be the only people to provide the consumables to them [KBTH]. That consumable that they are buying from this supplier is excessively more expensive than when you are buying it from the open market.”
Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak

Furthermore, Mr Mubarak explained that despite the demand by the Health Committee for the Management to submit documents for review, it has not been provided.