There is a growing concern from the general public in Tamale for the establishment of a paediatric dialysis center at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) to cater for children in the five regions of the north. Currently, children seeking dialysis services are often referred to Komfo Anokye or Korle Bu Teaching hospitals in Kumasi and Accra, respectively.
In 2023, an eight-year-old girl died at the TTH due to the lack of child dialysis machines. In the wake of the government’s directive on free dialysis services for children under 18 years, stakeholders have called for a dedicated child dialysis center.
Amina Yakubu, a mother of three, shared her experience with 3 news. She complained of having to travel to Accra for her 8-year-old daughter’s dialysis after she was diagnosed with renal infections in 2017. “I did four times a month with her and had to stay with a sister for the period. It was very expensive traveling to and fro for the services. Having a child dialysis unit in Tamale is long overdue because the entire Northern Region does not have such a facility and so patients have to travel, which is a huge burden,” she narrated.
According to the management of the Tamale Teaching Hospital, the staff at the dialysis unit have to improvise to take care of the patients. Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Zubeiru Aliu, told 3news that the hospital’s management is engaging with the government and relevant stakeholders to get a dedicated paediatric dialysis machine to serve children. “It is important to have the facility here because we record such cases here. Unfortunately, our machines are for adults and so our staff have to refer or improvise to cater for such categories of patients which is not the best. We need a center here in Tamale and at TTH to serve the northern regions and even the Bono regions,” he said.
Source: Sankofaonline.com
