The new dialysis unit, which was fully sponsored by GCB Bank Limited at a total cost of USD 232,000, comprises six dialysis machines, two ultrasound machines and a water purification plant, amongst other things.

The Commander of the 37 Military Hospital, Brigadier General Michael Akwasi Yeboah-Agyapong, expressed his profound gratitude to the commercial bank.

“Even though dialysis started in the 1940’s, efforts to establish one in our hospital started in 2007. Several attempts were made to establish the unit but financial and administrative bottlenecks made it impossible. The burning desire to own one, however, led us to go round asking for support from individuals and corporate bodies. I wish to gladly state that the positive response we received from GCB Bank Limited is the reason why we are here celebrating this special occasion,” he said.

Brigadier General Yeboah-Agyapong further stated that the benevolence of GCB Bank Limited couldn’t have come at a better time as the dialysis unit will help reduce the number of deaths caused by end-stage Kidney Disease.

“For the records, I wish to state that the first patient was treated on the 14th of February, 2018 and since then, we’ve had a number of patients who are queuing even before the commissioning. The facility has already accumulated 32 sessions. There is no doubt that we are fired up for action, it is clear that our work is cut out for use and our patients can no longer wait for formal commissioning,” he added.

The Managing Director of GCB Bank Limited, Anselm Ray Sowah, in his address at the ceremony to commission and officially hand over the unit to the hospital, was grateful for the opportunity given by the hospital to make a relevant contribution to society.

“Today represents an important milestone to the delivery of renal services in Ghana. One more renal unit means one more avenue of respite for the great number of our relations who have kidney-related problems and require this service. Our relationship with the 37 Military Hospital as a strategic national asset dates back many years with a lot of collaborations between our two institutions. … It is therefore not surprising that we decided to fully sponsor the Renal Dialysis Unit of the 37 Military Hospital when the command made the request to procure a  modern dialysis machine at a total cost of around USD 232,000” he said.

Anselm Ray Sowah further praised the 37 Military Hospital for its efficient and reliable service to personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces and the general public.

“We applaud the dedication and commitment of your staff. You will all agree with me that we have all benefitted in one way or the other from their selfless determination to serve even in the face of many challenges. We [GCB Bank Limited] shall continue to associate ourselves with this unique institution and partner the military high command. We do believe that this new unit will enhance the level of care provided to patients on dialysis and also promote a renewed enthusiasm amongst the staff,” he said.

Going paperless

This is a further boost to access to healthcare at the 37 Military Hospital as the facility has begun running a paperless system.

This is according to the Commander of the 37 Military Hospital, Brigadier General Michael Akwasi Yeboah-Agyapong.

Speaking at the commissioning, he said, “…our hospital, the 37 Military Hospital, is fully paperless. That is, if you come to the hospital, you don’t hold any paper. You’ll see your doctor. You don’t need a prescription; you’ll go the pharmacy and take your medication.”

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By: Akosua Ofewaa Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post GCB Bank commissions dialysis unit at 37 Military Hospital appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

These were words from 16-year old Vanessa Kyei, Kimbly’s elder sister when I visited the family home at Pig Farm in Accra to confirm his death.

Vanessa tells me her brother who suffered from chronic kidney disease died around 5:00pm last Thursday (April 27). He was on dialysis for seven months amidst a very difficult financial constraint.

“I went outside to go and pray. When I returned, he was sitting on the bed and told me he was hungry so I gave him food. He started eating faster and I scolded him; but he started drawling. I got scared and started panicking” she says.

“As soon as he finished eating, he fell on the bed and told me some people were putting him in a grave. He asked me to pray for him. Eventually he went into coma with his tongue out. A few hours later, the doctors came to tell me there was nothing they could do but to let my brother go.”

Three weeks before his death, Kimbly was not receiving dialysis. According to Vanessa, the doctors could not get access to his veins and so they asked them to stay home until they find other alternatives. Even when she felt her brother’s condition was worsening, there was nothing she could do if the doctors haven’t asked her to resume the treatment. Her brother’s situation was a difficult one because he was young, the doctors said.

Up until now, the only person oblivious of Kimbly’s death is his 42-year-old mother. She has not been in a good mental state for eleven years. For someone who has worked as a caterer at the Golden Tulip Hotel, her catering skill is still intact however. On my visit, I met her in their compound house preparing food for the family. The first question she asked me was whether I have gone to see her son at the hospital. Vanessa told me they are scared breaking the news to her will aggravate her situation. Kimbly and his mother were an inseparable pair.

Like the trials of Job in the bible, this family is facing very difficult times. The children’s father died while in South Africa. Even though he used to send money home, Vanessa tells me that her father’s family who were recipients, kept it away from them.

“I started selling with my aunt. Unknown to us, my father use to send money to her; but she never told us so we even thought my father was wicked to us. So one day I called to ask him and he narrated everything to me. Few days later, he died.”

Before her mother’s illness, Vanessa tells me she was a very hardworking woman who never denied her children a good life and education. She recounted to me how she use to go to one of her mother’s eleven catering services scattered all over the capital to make a choice for anything they want- from pastries to natural fruit juices and even jollof.

However, since she lost it, most of her workers and business partners have parted ways with her. Some of the businesses have collapsed, and most of the proceeds cannot be accounted for because the family has no details of its management.

In this compound house, Vanessa and her six other family members rent a chamber and hall room. Until Kimbly’s death, seven of them use to sleep in the room. Now six of them including her two other siblings, her grandmother, her mother and her mother’s brother, share this room together. Her uncle pays the rent, until he lost his job a few months ago.

“My uncle was able to help me complete JHS; but said he could not help me further to the Senior High School. He was sacked from work and that led him to drinking.”

This room is not in the best of shapes. It barely has space to accommodate the whole family. There is only one mattress placed in a corner in the hall amidst utensils and some clothes. Most of their clothing are scattered in this cluttered room. It has no electricity.

“I sleep on the mattress with my grandmother and little sister. My uncle has a student mattress which he places at the entrance of the room. My mother also sleeps on the floor in the chamber room with my other sister and Kimbly before he died. At times we sleep outside when the room gets hot because there is no fan, no electricity.”

Two of Vanessa’s sisters are 11 and 14 years old. They both attend a government school in the area. However, getting money for their upkeep has become cumbersome. Their school uniforms are tattered and so are all their clothes. They lament how difficult it is to get access to educational materials because they do not get help from anywhere.

Now Vanessa, who is the only hope for the family is left in a dilemma. Her dream of becoming a dietician someday seems to hang in the balance.

“The family members are there; but I have just counted myself out. I have done enough for Kimbly and I don’t want to continue with his death. All I want now is to go to school, and also leave this house because the tenants are very rude towards us because they say my mum disturbs a lot. I also wish my two siblings would get access to quality education, especially with their uniforms and clothes for home and church.”

To donate send contributions via Citi FM’s mobile money account 0243374093 (Priscilla) or call the front desk on 0302224959

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By: Farida Shaibu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post 12-yr-old loses battle with kidney disease; poverty stricken family cries for help appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Several weeks after being admitted at the Korle Bu Teaching hospital (KBTH), Kimbly was eventually diagnosed with a kidney problem.

The doctors prescribed dialysis treatment for Kimbly, and for the past eight months, the hospital has become a second home for him.

“I am here to cleanse my blood. The doctors say I have no kidney,” Kimbly said in a wobbly voice. “My sister broke the news to me after my first surgery. I also overheard some of the doctors saying it. Finally, one of the doctors later confirmed it to me. They advised me about my eating habit and the fact that I could no longer drink too much water because my kidneys are no more normal.

The nurses taking care of Kimbly describe how brilliant he is. But for his situation, he would have excelled in his academics however, the disease has taken a toll on him physically and now, he looks stunted.

“He used to feel pain whenever he urinates so we thought he has gone to play with somebody or something. According to the doctors, the bladder has become open and weak to contain urine. It has affected his kidney so he can’t urinate at all times. He is suffering from a chronic kidney disease and that means he’ll have to be on dialysis his whole life, otherwise, transplant” Vanessa, Kimbly’s sister narrates how it all happened.

Currently, Kimbly receives the dialysis treatment twice a week, contrary to doctors’ advice of going at least three times for maximum benefit. Dialysis is supposed to perform the function of the affected kidney by using an artificial kidney to remove waste toxins (especially urine) that have been accumulated in the body. Unfortunately, in Kimbly’s case, this daily function can only be performed twice a week; that’s even when he is able to afford the treatment.

Generally, dialysis is expensive and many people in Ghana cannot afford it.

“We have about 10, 000 people who need dialysis in Ghana; that’s from our estimate. There are only about 500 people who are receiving the treatment so it means for the rest of the patients we don’t actually know what is happening to them. And these people are not getting the treatment mainly because of financial constraints” Dr Adams Atiku, a senior resident doctor in the department of medicine at the Korle Bu Teaching hospital laments.

The hospital currently charges GHC260 per session and Kimbly is one of the numerous people who have to depend on generous donors and sometimes the benevolence of some of the nurses to be able to afford the treatment. When Citi News’ Farida Shaibu visited him at the hospital, she discovered that he had swollen eyes and was also confined in a wheelchair because the disease has also affected his movement. His sister, Vanessa explains how they have struggled all these months to keep him on the treatment.

“My mother is mentally ill, my father is dead. I am the first born and we are four so he is the third born. The family has rejected us and there’s no help, we don’t have any hope. We are now staying with our grandmother who doesn’t work. It’s by God’s grace that we have been able to keep him alive till now. Sometimes we have people to donate. Some of them pay for some time and then stop because the treatment is expensive.”

Kimbly not getting enough treatment puts him under several risks. He often suffers a lot of complications when put on the machine. The nurse in charge of the unit explains that Kimbly’s situation can be improved if only there is adequate funding for the treatment.

“For him, we’re having challenges because he’s a child. Because we are not able to get the correct asset for him, sometimes he reacts to what we’re using now. At times he throws up on the machine, at times he shivers and then he cries too. I can say he is not enjoying treatment because of all these complications due to financial constraint.”

Most patients who can afford dialysis are taken through a minor surgery called to get the blood flowing properly into their body but Kimbly is yet to undergo that surgery ever since he started the treatment. For now, the nurses are just improvising.

“The tube that we are using has been in use for a long time so they get infections. We have to get him the correct asset which costs about GHC1000 but there’s no money. Even the tube he’s using now we the nurses contributed to get it for him,” she adds.

The dialysis machine is supposed to pull out the blood through a tube, cleanse it and restores it into the body. Every session takes about four hours. This means patients will have to lie on the machine for that long. At the Korle bu teaching hospital, they join long queues to wait for their turn because there are only 24 machines to take care of over 148 of them. During the process, some of them experience fatigue, seizures and other complications. This can be traumatic.

The picture depicts Kimbly lying on the dialysis machine. He usually stays on it for three hours instead of four because he is a child. During this time, he feels weak, calm and almost in an unconscious state, oblivious of what is happening around him. He is one of the numerous children who come for the treatment here. Anyone can be affected, even babies.

Sometimes, patients even die while on the machine.

The case of Jessica Danso, also a 12-year-old student is a sad example. She died while receiving treatment at the hospital. She used to come for the session every Wednesday and Sunday like Kimbly. During one of the sessions, the nurses explained that her heart stopped while on the machine and there was nothing they could do to save her. She died shortly.

Doctors say people with the condition have so many challenges which contribute to the mortality. Currently, 17% of all deaths within the medical unit of the Korle Bu Teaching hospital (KBTH) are associated to kidney problems. Individuals diagnosed with such conditions often have heart problems, infections, and medical problems; mainly due to lack of financial support.

“We pay for his catheter because they can’t afford so he is a typical example. He will come for dialysis and he will go until the next time when it gets serious; no money” Dr Adams narrates how Kimbly has been managing for the treatment. “It’s a miracle that he is still alive. There was a day that he came here unconscious. He was gone completely. We spent about five hours on him and because he is a child and we have to improvise for him. In fact most of the materials we use here are for adults so when the machine pulls the blood from you; it takes a certain quantity so if you are a child, you can collapse because it will take all your blood and there will be nothing left.”

Unfortunately, there is no dialysis centre at the children’s block of the hospital where children can have proper access to the machine and also receive proper medical care. Dr. Adams Atiku advocated for a special centre for children so they can also enjoy treatment.

As if Kimbly’s situation is already not sniveling, this boy has to deal with the psychological effects of hoping that at least someone donates to get him through the next session. Because of the situation, he has stunted growth and his education has been put on hold even though he dreams of becoming a soldier one day.

It is quite interesting to know that they are living in absolute poverty and their challenges come in battalions.

“Our family has rejected us; no one is minding us now. Even our rent has expired. All the tenants hate and insult us and call us poor. We do not even attend school. It’s only my little sisters who attend school” Vanessa narrates with her head bowed down. “It is only my little sisters who attend school and even them they ran shifts. Monday, the one after me goes and then the other one goes on Tuesday. That’s how they also get some education.”

For now, Vanessa’s dilemma is to be able to afford other medications for her brother. Doctors say the consumables used by the hospital contribute for the high cost of treatment. Meanwhile, the medication to sustain the patients after the treatment is also another major factor that hampers a lot of them from forfeiting dialysis.

“On Monday after the treatment, the doctors said we have to start buying a drug for his blood. It costs GHC90 every day. As it stands, we cannot afford it because it’s expensive. It is by the grace of God that he is still alive. He often gets infections, goes into coma for weeks and sometimes becomes very hot. I don’t know what to do, I’m even confused” Vanessa cried.

 *Kimbly needs GHc 1,000 urgently for catheter. If you have been touched by this story, Kimbly needs your help to stay alive for at least one more day. You can donate any amount at the front desk of Citi FM or get in touch with Farida at Citi FM and we would be glad to take him through the next session. Thank you!*

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By Farida Shaibu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Spending to survive: The story of a 12-year-old’s struggle on dialysis appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.