.Despite the National Health Insurance Authority’s (NHIA) directive to cover renal services, some patients at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) continue to bear the financial burden of their dialysis treatment.
The NHIA, in its efforts to improve access to dialysis treatment, issued a directive to provide free renal services, including hemodialysis, to insured persons suffering from chronic kidney disease.
However, patients seeking these services at KATH are still being asked to make payments toward their treatment as management awaits official communication from the Ministry of Health.
Speaking the Media in Kumasi Dr Yaw Opare Larbi, Deputy Medical Director of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital explained that the Hospital is yet to receive a formal directive from the Ministry of Health to start the free dialysis treatment services.
“We are ready to roll out, what we are only waiting for is because we work under the Ministry of Health anytime we are going to embark on any activity we need to receive directives from the Ministry. Before we commit our resources to this very important activity all we are waiting for is a directive to go ahead, these are the modalities for operation and so on.
“We are going to start a service and we are going to use consumables, they are the things like liquid and tubes that we use and when you finish, you have to discard, all those cost money. So we have to recoup the money and we know that the money has already been made available for the age brackets that have been described in the NHIA CEO’s address when he mentioned the package. So we are ready, all we are waiting for the Ministry of Health we work under to give us the green light to go ahead. They communicate to us through documents so that’s all we are waiting for.”
Source: Kasapafmonline.com
