Ghanaian MPs have said Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman Manu should appear before parliament next week to answer questions about the five-month closure of the renal unit at the publicly funded Korle-Bu hospital in the capital, Accra.
The country’s largest treatment centre for patients suffering kidney disease shut because of budgetary issues and it was unable to pay for the everyday needs of those needing its services.
Nineteen people have died since the facility was closed, according to the head of a patients’ group. Kofi Baffour Ahenkorah told the BBC that the situation has left most of his members stranded because they cannot afford the treatment at private hospitals.
Patients on dialysis have to visit the hospital three times a week. At Korle-Bu, the treatment cost is $190 (£160) per week – private hospitals charge far more than that.
The health ministry has said it issued a directive for the facility to be re-opened, and that the debt issue has been resolved, but that has not yet happened.
The hospital authorities said they have received no such directive.
