Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang Manu says the government plans to construct a 100-bed ultramodern urology centre at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH).

The facility when completed will undertake kidney transplants and render other services which will help reduce the need for Ghanaians to travel abroad to undergo such services.

Addressing the floor of parliament on Thursday, Mr Manu said, “The government has invested with the support of parliament by approving facilities for us in the construction of a 100-bed urology centre of excellence at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital which will be commissioned by the end of the first quarter next year 2024.”

Ahead of the construction of the centre, he said a team had been trained to carry out transplants at reduced cost adding that “they have already undertaken the first kidney transplantations successfully in the country and by our Ghanaian doctors.”

He stressed that this was among many initiatives the government was taking to help citizens battling kidney conditions.

The Health Minister is optimistic that the urology when constructed will make Ghana a hub for medical tourism.

Mr Manu's address comes on the back of a recent dialysis crisis that occurred after the renal outpatient department at KBTH closed its doors over a GHȼ4 million cedis debt.

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