Cape Coast, March 13, – Master Dominic Boabeng, a 13-year-old pupil of Gomoa Afransi Methodist Basic School in the Gomoa East District of the Central Region, has commended John Dramani Mahama for the government’s free dialysis care policy for patients suffering from kidney disease.
However, the young patient has appealed for more dialysis machines to be provided and services decentralised, so treatment centres can operate 24 hours a day to support growing demand.
For the past year, Boabeng has been undergoing dialysis three times each week at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital to manage his kidney condition.
The teenager explained that limited equipment often forced patients to arrive very early and wait for long hours before receiving treatment.
“I come here three times a week, very early in the morning, and sometimes I have to wait because there aren't enough machines,” he said emotionally.
Marking World Kidney Day, Boabeng joined other dialysis patients in appealing to government, corporate organisations and philanthropists to support the procurement of additional machines and expand dialysis services across the country.
The patients said limited dialysis equipment often leads to overcrowding at treatment centres, forcing many patients to wait for long periods or even an entire day before receiving care.
They noted that delays in dialysis could worsen symptoms such as fatigue, swelling, and high blood pressure, while untreated end-stage renal disease could increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes, or coma within weeks.
Patients also highlighted the financial burden on families, many of whom travel long distances to treatment centres such as the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and other private facilities.
“We thank the government for free dialysis, but we need more machines decentralised to ease access,” Boabeng appealed.
He said his illness began about a year ago and had significantly affected his education and sporting activities, threatening his ambition of becoming a medical doctor.
According to him, the cost of transportation from Gomoa Afransi to Cape Coast every three days had also placed considerable strain on his family’s finances.
Another dialysis patient, Mr Eugene Okai, a Credit Union Manager from Twifo Praso in the Twifo Atti-Morkwa District, praised Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for introducing the free dialysis initiative, but said the limited number of machines remained a major challenge.
He suggested that introducing 24-hour dialysis services could help eliminate incomplete treatments, shorten waiting times, reduce complications and hospital readmissions, and ensure better access for rural communities.
A journalist, Mr Thomas Cann, who has been living with the disease for 13 years, said demand for dialysis had surged following the introduction of the free treatment programme, attracting patients from the Western, Western North and Eastern Regions.
Later in the day, the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital organised a health screening exercise at Moree near Cape Coast, where Dr Kelvin Denanyoh, an Internal Medicine Resident Practitioner, screened more than 300 residents.
Dr Denanyoh identified diabetes, hypertension, chronic glomerulonephritis, misuse of nephrotoxic drugs and excessive intake of herbal medicines as some of the leading causes of chronic kidney disease in Ghana.
He advised the public to maintain healthy blood pressure and blood sugar levels, adopt low-salt diets rich in fruits and vegetables, engage in regular physical activity, quit smoking, and avoid nephrotoxic substances.
For patients with end-stage kidney disease, he stressed the importance of early detection, regular dialysis or kidney transplantation, and proper management of complications.
The 2026 World Kidney Day celebration was held under the theme “Kidney Health for All: Caring for People, Protecting the Planet.”
The theme emphasised the importance of kidney health while highlighting the need to link disease prevention with environmental sustainability through education and community screenings.
GHBUSS
March 13, 2026
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