Over 10 children die at Tamale Teaching Hospital over lack of dialysis machines
About 15 children have lost their lives due to the lack of pediatric dialysis machines and consumables at the Tamale Teaching Hospital.
The Nurse Manager of the Tamale Teaching Hospital Dialysis Unit, Adam Yahaya Wanzam, said the lack of pediatric machines has compelled them to improvise with machines meant for adults, putting the lives of child patients in danger.
“We have lost over 10 to 15 children who were supposed to receive dialysis. But for lack of pediatric machines, we were improvising with the adult machines, and the adult machines and consumables are not for children,” he said.
He pleaded desperately to the government, individuals and non-governmental organisations to help provide the machines and crucial consumables to curb further devastation.
“We are calling on individuals and Non-governmental organisations to come to our aid by helping us acquire these pediatric machines and consumables so that when an innocent child finds him/herself in this situation, the Tamale Teaching Hospital Dialysis unit can rescue them,” Mr Wanzam pleaded during an interview on Citi News.
This comes after several outcries from kidney patients and the public over the cost and difficulty of accessing dialysis nationwide.
It will be recalled that the Korle Bu Renal Dialysis Unit increased the cost of dialysis services, leading to an outcry by patients, the Minority in Parliament and some critics.
The hospital later made a U-turn to revert to the initial charges while they engaged stakeholders to address the increased cost of consumables and other items needed for dialysis.
A wave of campaigns started with calls for the cost of dialysis to be absorbed under the NHIS.