The price surge, jumping from 380 to 491, has rendered dialysis unaffordable for many, plunging them into a state of desperation.
These patients, already burdened with managing their health conditions, now find themselves in an impossible dilemma as they grapple with the financial strain imposed by the escalated treatment expenses.
3news.com reports Abigail Ohenewaa Mintah, a kidney patient as having expressed profound distress over the situation, highlighting that the cost hike was approved by Parliament.
“I skipped my session as a result of the price increase. I can’t eat although I am hungry, and it is affecting me a lot because I don’t want to be too heavy," Mintah disclosed, as quoted by the news portal.
Echoing similar sentiments, Kwaku Kwarteng, another patient, revealed the pervasive fear induced by the financial strain, stating, “Now you are even afraid to drink water or eat because you don’t know where you are going to get money for the dialysis.”
The situation has compelled the president of the Dialysis Patients Association, Kojo Bafour Ahenkora to lament the timing of the increment, suggesting that it could have been postponed until efforts to include dialysis treatment costs under the National Health Insurance Scheme were finalized. Ahenkora urged authorities to reconsider the decision, emphasizing, “If it’s Parliament who did this, we beg them to revisit the issues and do something about it.”
Conversations surrounding dialysis have long been prominent, with the cost of treatment and insufficient machines remaining persistent issues. As patients continue to grapple with the financial burden, their plea for affordable access to essential healthcare grows louder.