Health workers and other stakeholders are calling on the government and the Ministry of Health to put in place clear measures to fight kidney-related diseases, as young people are dying of kidney failure in the Upper East Region. 

According to the health workers, between March and September 2022 alone, 15 young people died of kidney failure out of the 30 cases that were recorded. 

The situation, according to them, is worrying and needs urgent measures to curb it, especially among young people. 

Dr Emmanuel Akatibo, a Physician Specialist, made this known to Class91.3FM’s regional correspondent in an interview.

He said this has made the demand for a dialysis centre in the region urgent. 

Dr Akatibo stressed that "since I started working in the regional hospital in March 2022 as the only Physician Specialist, the department of internal medicine has recorded over 30 kidney failure cases that needed dialysis, either as a long-term renal replacement therapy or a short course of dialysis to allow time for the kidneys to recover."

He added that "Unfortunately, this service is not available at the regional hospital which serves as the main referral centre for the whole of Upper East, parts of North East, Burkina Faso, and Togo”

“Out of those who had end-stage kidney failure and needed long-term haemodialysis, only a few could afford to travel to Tamale, the nearest centre for dialysis.

“This didn’t come easy for them at all, so some dropped along the way because they couldn’t keep up”, he disclosed.

He admitted that aside from the cost of the dialysis and medications which are expensive, these patients had to travel two to three times a week with a caregiver to Tamale for the dialysis.

This, he said, puts an extra burden on their families because some had to stop working in order to be able to travel almost every other day for dialysis.