Kidney
transplant patients doing well
Accra, Nov. 13, Ghanadot/GNA - The patient and donors of
the first kidney transplant are doing remarkably well,
authorities at the Korle_Bu Teaching Hospital said on
Thursday.
Three renal patients received kidney transfers. The
first was from a sister to a brother, a father to a son
and a wife to a husband between Monday and Wednesday.
The surgery was performed jointly by a team of medical
doctors from Queen’s hospital in the United Kingdom (UK)
and Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
At a news briefing in Accra, Dr. Charlotte Osafo and
Head of the Renal Unit said “one of the patients is fit
and would be discharged tomorrow. We are celebrating the
hope that renal patients has got for this historic
event.”
According to her, renal cases constituted 9.5 percent of
all medical admissions and that 558 cases were recorded
between January and July this year.
She said the unit undertook 4000 dialysis session per
annum from 2005-2008 and had about 2000 percent
increase, as compared to 200 dialysis sessions from
172-1990.
Dr Osafo said dialysis was not the final treatment for
kidney failure but served as a stop gap towards
transplant which was a more convenient and less
expensive way of dealing with the condition.
She said though Kidney transplant was very expensive, it
improved the quality of life and was relatively cheaper
than dialysis, adding that, it also helped reduce the
financial burden on family and friends.
In Ghana each operation would cost about 30,000 Ghana
cedis but the Ghana Kidney Foundation would assist each
patient to take the bill.
She commended the UK team, and the entire staff of the
hospital for the effort saying, “every department was
part of the success”.
The Minister of Health Major (Rtd) Courage Quashigah
called for the donation of body parts to save lives.
This, he said, required intensive education and noted
that the Health Promotion Unit of the Ghana Health
service would be resourced to take it up.
He expressed his joy at the first successful transplant
and commended Ecobank and Cal Bank for their immense
support and the hospital staff for the team spirit which
saw the fruition of the project.
The Minister reiterated the need to inculcate in the
school curriculum, health education and nutrition,
saying that the British Government had implemented it in
schools in the UK.
He called on the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) to
produce pamphlets in simple language on the vital part
of the body to educate the public on healthy lifestyles.
Dr Andrew Ready, Head of the UK team said members were
satisfied with all the hospital equipment and also
commended the staff for a successful surgery.
He explained that though some symptoms of Kidney failure
were swollen ankles, tiredness and anaemia, most of it
came at the latter stage of the disease, adding that
donors were carefully examined before their kidneys were
harvested to enable them live normal with one kidney.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital, Professor
Nii Nartey appealed to individual and corporate
organizations to support the Ghana Kidney Foundation in
its efforts to establish a Centre at Korle Bu by
contributing into the Ridge branch of Ecobank account
number 1101571100112.
GNA
