Patients with kidney-related conditions in northern Ghana could soon have improved access to dialysis services as the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (GMTF) and TEK-iMAS Medikal move to support the expansion of renal care at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH).
The partnership will focus on the establishment of a new dialysis centre, expansion of the hospital’s dialysis capacity and equipment base, and strengthening of healthcare workers’ capacity to provide specialised renal care.
The initiative was announced after a joint fact-finding visit by GMTF and TEK-iMAS Medikal to assess the feasibility of partnering with TTH to expand its dialysis services.
The proposed intervention is significant for northern Ghana, where patients requiring specialised renal treatment often face long-distance travel when services are unavailable or affected by equipment and operational challenges.
TTH Board Chairman, Prof. Baba Sulemana Mohammed, said the hospital serves more than seven million people across eight regions, while increasingly receiving patients from neighbouring countries, including Togo, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Niger.
He described the hospital as an emerging hub for health tourism and urged government and private-sector institutions to invest in critical specialised services to meet growing demand.
Prof. Baba said partnerships should not be limited to dialysis but extended to other areas such as urology, oncology and advanced imaging, which he said were urgently needed to reduce the burden on patients who travel elsewhere for treatment.
Training to be part of intervention
Chairman of TEK-iMAS Medikal, Mr. Ahmet Kamil Salahoglu, said the organisation’s support would go beyond constructing a dialysis facility.
He said the partnership would also include capacity building for local healthcare professionals, aimed at ensuring that the expanded services are sustained and delivered to the required standard.
The Director of Medical Affairs at TTH, Prof. Alhassan Abdul-Mumin, who represented the Chief Executive Officer, welcomed the proposed partnership and assured the delegation of management’s commitment to its successful implementation.
GMTF targets unfunded health services
For the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, the proposed dialysis intervention forms part of a broader effort to address gaps in healthcare financing.
The Fund’s Policy Advisor on Health, Dr. Norbert Kipo, said GMTF was working with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to identify essential services that are currently outside the NHIS benefits package.
He said the Fund was exploring ways to absorb the cost of such services and develop a comprehensive tariff covering selected non-communicable diseases and related treatments.
“We have identified funding gaps and are committed to addressing them,” Dr. Kipo said.
The GMTF was also represented by its Northern Regional Coordinator, Mr. Isaac Konlan.
If implemented, the proposed partnership could significantly strengthen renal care at TTH and reduce the need for patients in northern Ghana and neighbouring countries to travel long distances for dialysis and other specialised kidney-related treatment.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
