Cape Coast hospital inaugurates $1.3 million dialysis centre

A $1.3 million Hemodialysis Centre has been inaugurated at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital.

With the inauguration of the centre, patients with kidney problems can now seek treatment at the hospital instead of travelling to Accra or elsewhere.

The centre, which has 10 dialysis machines, is now the second largest hemodialysis facility in the country.

The old centre, which had six machines, was temporarily closed down after frequent breakdowns and lack of spare parts.

The dialysis machine is used to purify a patient’s blood when his or her kidneys are not functioning effectively.

The Tokushikai Medical Corporation (TMC) of Japan sponsored the refurbishment of the facility.

The acting Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Erasmus Agongo, said Ghana contributed $30,000 of the total cost of the facility.

He said the centre was now fully equipped to provide patients with quality services.

The Vice President of the TMC, Dr Takoa Suzuki, who read a speech on behalf of the Chairman of TMC, Dr Torao Tokuda, said the TMC believed that all human beings were created equal and had the right to optimum medical care.

He said highlights of an agreement signed between Ghana and TMC were given focus when President John Dramani Mahama visited him during the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on the Development of Africa in Japan, last May.

Dr Suzuki said President Mahama’s understanding and concern for health matters made him decide to pursue the collaboration and support the centre.

He said the TMC had built 66 general hospitals and social welfare institutions in Japan and a total of 267 institutions worldwide, making it the world’s third largest medical group and the largest in Japan.

He said currently, the TMC was planning to build 10 new hospitals and refurbish many others across the world.

The Central Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Sarpong, said though the actual burden of the kidney disease on the country was yet to be quantified, analysis of data from the Renal Dialysis Centre at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in 2010 indicated that chronic kidney diseases accounted for 15 per cent of all medical admissions and 10 per cent of all deaths.

Mr Sarpong called on health professionals to institute screening programmes in their facilities and encourage their clients to undergo regular check ups. He appealed to the Ghana Health Service to set up a foundation to support dialysis patients.

The Deputy Chief of Mission at the Japan Embassy, Mr Shigeru Hamano, called for the effective maintenance of the facility.

He indicated that the dialysis centre was from the private sector in Japan and pledged that the Japanese Government would continue to collaborate with the Ghana Government in the areas of health, agriculture, infrastructure and manpower development.

The Omanhen of Cape Coast, Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, expressed the hope that the facility would further support the University of Cape Coast’s School of Medical Sciences to produce better doctors.

By Shirley Asiedu-Addo/Daily Graphic/Ghana