The Upper West Regional hospital has for the first time established a dialysis unit in collaboration with Asaase foundation in response to the rising cases of kidney and kidney related health conditions.
In a short ceremony at the premises of the hospital to commission the dialysis center on Friday, 15th July, 2022, the medical director of the upper west regional hospital, Dr Robert Amesiya revealed that kidney and kidney related conditions have increased from 613 in 2020 to 2,252 cases in 2021.
In response to the emerging critical need facing the region, Asaase foundation responded positively to the plight of the hospital with a dialysis machine after management of the hospital had sent proposals to NGO’s, organizations and individuals in a bid to set up a dialysis center.
In addition to the machine, Dr Amesiya said the foundation also provided dialysis chair, ancillary equipment and the cost of installation.
He added that the hospital has also ordered for two dialysis machines to augment the one Asaase foundation provided to guarantee continues service delivery.
According to him, the dialysis center can contain up to 20 machines as he appealed to philanthropists to come to their aid with more machines to handle all kidney related conditions.
Dr Amesiya noted that the hospital has already trained some dedicated nurses in preparation for the dialysis unit and assured that the facility will be opened to the public in the not too distant future.
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Dr Dominic Akaateba, a Physician at the Wa Regional Hospital explained that people lost their lives due to lack of access to dialysis in the region as many of them reject referral to facilities in other regions due to the challenges involved.
He underscored the need to have enough machines to be installed at the dialysis unit in order to handle all kinds of cases including patients with blood borne virus.
For his part, the Upper West Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Damien Punguyire explained that the region recorded 12,000 cases of kidney related conditions with nearly 1,000 of them needed to be on dialysis over the last few years.
He said patients will no longer be referred to Tamale, Kumasi or Accra as he described the cost of dialysis as catastrophic that can push families into poverty.
The regional director urged the hospital management to put in routine preventive maintenance of the equipment to extend their life span.
“We can holding onto the lives of the people in the region if we handle them carefully.”
In his speech, the president of the Asaase Foundation and lead consultant for Asaase Broadcasting’s international partnerships, Kojo Mensah, said the foundation is embarking on a worthy course to help kidney disease patients who have pressing needs.
He assured management of the hospital of continues support to keep the dialysis unit functioning at full capacity.
Source:Homeradionews
