Family of an acute renal failure patient, who lost his life at the Upper East Regional Hospital, say their relative would not have died from his condition if he had access to dialysis services.
The deceased was referred to the Tamale Teaching Hospital for dialysis treatment as such services are unavailable in the Upper East Region.
But the family led by his elder brother, who said the condition drained them financially, were unable to transport him to Tamale due to lack of funds, resulting in the young man losing his life on Sunday, January 21.
Speaking in an interview on Breakfast News on Dreamz FM, elder brother of the deceased Johnson Asampana said Gilbert wouldn’t have lost his life if he had access to dialysis treatment on time.
“If he had gotten to Tamale he would have survived. But because of the lack funds that caused the delay and he passed away. Though we know that sometimes money cannot save a life, but in some situations, money helps in saving a life,” he stated.
He indicated that his treatment drained the family financially and made it difficult for them to mobilize the resources needed to transport him to Tamale for the required treatment when he was transferred.
Gilbert’s death comes exactly two months after another acute renal failure patient died due to the unavailability of dialysis in the Upper East Region.
Although Nathan Nsobila had begun dialyzation at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, financial constraints forced him to skip some of the sessions, resulting in his death on November 21, 2023.
The wrecking stories of the two mirror that of others, who have either died or are battling for their lives because of the nonavailability of dialysis services in the Upper East Region.
In March last year, residents launched a campaign to raise funds for the establishment of a dialysis treatment centre in the region.
Significant progress has been made in raising resources for the project although the scheduled period for operationalizing the centre has not been met.
Dr. Emmanuel Akatibo, a physician specialist at the Regional Hospital and a lead advocate for the project, indicated that structural works have been completed and management are working towards procuring enough consumables to operationalize the centre.
“Consumables are our main priority right now and because of the bureaucratic processes, it has delayed up to this time. That’s why we are hoping that we will receive as soon as possible then we can kick-start and schedule a date and then just launch it,” he stated in an interview on Breakfast News on Dreamz FM.
