The issue of kidney disease and its related issues such as kidney transplant and dialysis has become topical in the Ghanaian media space since the country’s leading online news outlet, GhanaWeb took a commendable initiative to ignite discussions around the legalization of kidney transplant.
The campaign by GhanaWeb has piqued the interest of decision-makers in the country as it has been revealed that the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health is already making some moves in this regard.
Within the corridors of the National Health Insurance Authority, a committee has been set up to deliberate ways treatment of kidney disease can be added to the package.
As the campaign wages on, it has come to light that a certain Ghanaian businessman by name Eric Seddy Kutortse has done some tremendous work in the sector.
Eric Seddy Kutortse, the Executive Chairman of First Sky Group has been doing philanthropic works by paying for the dialysis cost of kidney patients at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
In a tweet posted by Bright Simons and sighted by GhanaWeb, he said, “So, this is the classy philanthropist who, without any noisy fanfare, has been paying for the dialysis costs of needy kidney patients in Ghana's Premier hospital. A short holdup in their contributions caused the recent panic. Philanthropy in Ghana is a quiet but powerful force.”
Dialysis, a life-saving treatment for people with kidney failure. It removes waste products and excess fluid from the blood when the kidneys are unable to do so.
Information available on First Sky Group shows that since December 2016, it has executed a programme that substantially increases health financing, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines through the free dialysis project at the Korle Bu Renal Unit.
The project began with an initial sum of Six Hundred and Twenty Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC620,000.00) and a further donation of an amount of Two million Ghana cedis (GHC2,000,000.00) as an endowment fund for the treatment of all patients at the dialysis unit.
As of December 2021, a total amount of Twenty Million Ghana Cedis (GHC20,000,000.00) has been disbursed on this project.
SA/KPE
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Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.
Eric Seddy Kutortse is the Executive Chairman of First Sky Group