The Forum for Kidney Patients Association Ghana has appealed to the government, corporate organisations, benevolent individuals and groups to urgently support the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH) with more dialysis machines to enhance renal care services. 

The Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, which is the only public dialysis centre in the Central Region, is under immense pressure, serving scores of patients from the region, as well as parts of the Western, Eastern and Ashanti Regions. 

Despite the growing demand for its services, the centre currently has only five functioning dialysis machines serving more than 100 patients. 

Consequently, each patient is allowed only about two hours per session instead of the recommended four hours, exposing them to the risk of complications and potentially endangering their lives. 

The President of the Forum for Kidney Patients Association, Baffour Kojo Ahinkra, said the situation required urgent intervention from all stakeholders, given the rising incidence of kidney diseases. 

He made the call when the Association donated consumables to the facility to facilitate the restoration of two dialysis machines that had been out of use due to a shortage of consumables. 

The items donated included disposable bloodlines and dialysis powder, a concentrate that helps remove waste products and excess electrolytes from a patient's blood during haemodialysis. 

Mr Ahinkra said the gesture was intended to complement the Government’s efforts to provide essential dialysis services to patients. 

He called on the Government to expedite action to establish more dialysis centres in the region. 

In the interim, however, he insisted that the CCTH dialysis centre must be beefed up to mitigate the pressure and give patients ample time on the machines. 

“They are doing two hours per session instead of four and that does not give them any proper clearance in the system. 

“When a patient from CCTH speaks to you, you smell urea in their breath, which is an indication that their blood is not being filtered well,” he said. 

“I know the government is trying to set up more dialysis centres, but that is for the long term. 

“For now, we have a place. Let’s beef it up with more machines and consumables because the cases keep rising every day,” he stressed. 

A physician specialist at CCTH, Dr Samuel Doughan, noted that the recent surge in dialysis cases had put enormous pressure on the facility and its staff. 

“We run out of consumables, and the machines are breaking down because constantly, they are in use due to the increased burden we have seen these days. 

“We have about four to five machines averagely working. This means that we can only serve about 20 to 25 people if we are going to provide adequate dialysis for everyone,” he said. 

He, therefore, reiterated the appeal for more dialysis machines to meet the increasing demand and provide patients with better treatment. 

Dr Doughan expressed appreciation to the Association for the gesture, saying it would go a long way to support the dialysis unit. 

To mitigate the rising incidence of renal cases, he entreated citizens to undergo regular check-ups, drink adequate water, and reduce their salt intake. 

He also encouraged hypertensive and diabetic patients to take their medications religiously. 

A patient from Akim Oda in the Eastern Region, Madam Gifty Tetteh, sharing her ordeal, narrated how she travelled for four hours to Cape Coast for her sessions each time. 

She therefore called for a dialysis centre in her area while appealing for more dialysis machines at CCTH. 

She also thanked the Association for the support gesture.