The President of the Ghana Kidney Association, Prof Sampson Antei has revealed that quite a number of children with kidney challenges die in their numbers on a daily basis. This, he said is as a result of the cost involved in the treatment of the chronic disease.
According to him, the situation is dire such that “any child who gets to the end stage of kidney disease dies”. “…I can tell you probably only a third of people with kidney failure were able to initiate dialysis. The majority of them were dying. When it even comes to children, it is rather a pathetic story,” he said.
He made this claim while contributing to Kidney Health Matters on JoyNews on Thursday, October 5, 2023. Providing statistics to back his assertion, he said “A publication I did earlier in 2012 indicates that the prevalence of children with kidney disease in the hospital was about 4.3 of all kids admitted to the hospital facility.”
According to him, most of the cases recorded can be acute and can be recovered when given some time. However “when the person’s kidney fails and the toxins are building up and you are not able to perform dialysis acutely, he will die. But the good thing is that for those with dialysis, it doesn’t take a long time. Probably two weeks the kidney recovers.”
According to him, “In Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, we see every year about 25 to 40 children who come with kidney illness and they all die.” This remark comes after the passing of a 15-year-old kidney patient receiving dialysis at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital who had requested assistance in an earlier interview with JoyNews.
The mother of the young girl, Priscilla Asante, revealed that her daughter passed away early Sunday at 1 a.m. In an interview with JoyNews’ Richard Kwadwo Nyarko, Madam Ruth said that she saw her daughter, Priscilla, bloating on the day of her passing. She added the doctor had informed her that this was an indication both kidneys of the young girl had failed.
By: Emma Ankrah
