The government, through the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), is offering free dialysis sessions for children under 18 and adults above 60 years.

This follows Parliament’s approval of an amount of GHC2,000,000 in the NHIA’s 2024 Allocation Formula to support needy and vulnerable patients seeking dialysis treatment.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NHIA, Dr. Da-Costa Aboagye, in a statement said the Authority, through administrative arrangements, had allocated an additional GHC2,400,000 under the Corporate Social Responsibility approved budget of the scheme to support this initiative.

It noted that  it was significant enhancement to its health benefits coverage to include dialysis patients for a period of six months.

The  vulnerable groups include (patients aged below 18 and above 60 will receive eight free dialysis sessions per month under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) from June to December 2024.

It explained that the cost of dialysis for these categories, upon verification of the actual patients on dialysis, was projected to be GHC329,952 per month, and by the end of December 2024, the cumulative cost was estimated to be approximately GHC2.3 million.

Per the statement, patients from Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH), Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital (ENRH), Ho Teaching Hospital (HTH), and Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH), except Korle Bu, would receive two dialysis sessions per month at GHC982.00, which is GHC491 per session.

It indicated that the cost of dialysis for this treatment category was projected to be GHC144,354 per month, and by the end of December 2024, the cumulative cost was estimated to be approximately GH¢1.01 million.

Portions of the statement, he further explained that patients at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) would receive a subsidy for two dialysis sessions per month at GHS491.00. This, according to the statement, is 50% of the cost per session (GH¢245.50) due to a philanthropic gesture of GHS380.00 being offered to such patients, as indicated on Table 3, to address equity across all facilities.

“The cost of dialysis for this treatment category at KBTH is projected to be GH¢147,300 per month, and by the end of December 2024, the cumulative cost is estimated to be approximately GH¢1.03 million.

“This means a total of approximately GH¢4.4 million is being invested to support this initiative, adding that the Government is committed to finding sustainable interventions to deal with renal diseases and other illnesses not holistically covered under the NHIS, and will soon unveil a sustainable plan,” it added.