The management of the Eastern Regional Hospital has taken delivery of three dialysis machines donated to the Renal and Dialysis Unit of the hospital by BDAC Ghana Foundation, in collaboration with the family of the late Dr. George Fredua Agyemang Ofori-Atta.
The items are to help the hospital’s dialysis unit manage the intake of kidney failure diseases, cut down on the rising incidence of deaths due to the lack of dialysis and further improve general health care of the people.
The haemodialysis machines, valued at about GH¢400,000, will complement five other dialysis machines purchased by the hospital for the treatment of patients with kidney problems.
At a short ceremony on Wednesday to commission the newly built Eastern Regional Renal Dialysis Centre, and to take delivery of the donated machines, the Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Kwame Acheampong, said the opening of the centre comes with great relief to patients. He added that it would impact greatly on reducing the number of kidney failure deaths in the region.
He said, even though health professionals manage the symptoms of kidney failure in the early stages with medications, the latter stages require dialysis, with some patients requiring it throughout their lives.
Ammishadai Ofori, a lead consultant with BDAC Foundation, who represented the CEO of the Foundation, Dr. Kofi Ayim, said the Foundation is very much concerned about providing help in the critical healthcare unit, most especially in the areas of technology.
“For the Koforidua hospital, they were asking for a dialysis machine for their renal centre, and we had access to this machines. So, we partnered with the Ofori-Atta family who were already interested in helping. We donated three dialysis machines, but we want to continue helping by donating more to every other regional hospital that needs specific help when it comes to critical healthcare,” Mr Ofori added.
Speaking with a section of the media, Goldie Sikafuturo Ofori-Atta, a daughter of the late Dr Ofori-Atta, indicated that the family had taken it upon themselves to support people with kidney problems because her father, who practiced medicine for over 30 years in Ghana and USA, was a casualty of kidney failure, and had the benefit of receiving life-saving dialysis treatment.
She said the treatment, which lasted for several years, helped in prolonging the life of her father, hence the commitment of the family to help reduce the deaths associated with kidney diseases.
“After the eventual death of my father, my family have dedicated a cause to battle kidney diseases and educate people on kidney issues. As part of our commitment to aid people suffering from such conditions, we partnered the BDAC Foundation to deliver this machines to support the huge demand of dialysis healthcare,” she said.