Presidential Health Advisor Says Gov’t Is Considering Incorporating Dialysis Sessions Onto NHIS
The Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, has revealed the government of Ghana will be deliberating with the National Health Insurance Secretariat to incorporate at least two Dialysis sessions on the social health insurance scheme.
The revelation was made at a public lecture organised by the Ghana Kidney Association (GKA) on March 10, 2022, the second Thursday of March, a day that marks World Kidney Day annually.
It is estimated that Chronic Kidney Disease patients who require three dialysis sessions each week pay GHC50,700 each year. This is not within the means of most of the patients leading to their deaths, according to Dr. Nsiah-Asare.
Due to this, the Presidential Advisor on Health said, “We shall be discussing with the National Health Insurance Scheme to see if, after actuarial studies, at least two sessions of dialysis for acute Chronic Kidney Disease can be added to the National treatment guidelines on the list”.
Nevertheless, he urged organisations, associations, and corporate institutions to generate a reinsurance system to fund treatment of the renal disease since “we cannot only depend on the NHIS”.
Dr. Nsiah-Asare recalled that in 2016 Ghana had only 15 dialysis centres across the country with 103 dialysis machines which were in only four regions .
He then announced that the provision of Dialysis machines will be featured in the government’s promised Agenda 111- which aims to build one hundred and eleven (111) health facilities across the sixteen regions of Ghana.
“There should be a concerted effort to increase the number of dialysis centres. This, the government will be doing together with the private sector so that we work together and make dialysis centres across the regions. We are going to make sure that we put dialysis machines in all the Agenda 111 hospitals we are developing.”
Additionally, he said that “The government through the scholarship secretariat will provide funding for doctors, nurses and other health professionals to do standard training in Nephrology so that we will have enough qualified Nephrology nurses and technicians for our citizens”.
He believes a National Kidney Fund should be institutionalised to support kidney transplantation and kidney dialysis in Ghana to raise funds from both the corporate organisations and the private sector.
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
