A minority in Congress is demanding an immediate reversal of increases in dialysis treatment fees at public hospitals.
Kidney patients have warned that they may be unable to receive the vital treatment they need to survive after the fee regulation was passed, with prices rising to GH380₵491.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Friday, Senior Member of the Health Committee, Mr Kwabena Minta Akandoh, ordered the Minister of Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adamu, to urgently review regulations to save lives. .
He said he was informed by the Chair during the deliberation of the proposal in the Subsidiary Legislation Committee that he had directed the Ministry of Finance to withdraw and waive taxes on reagents and medicines and not to increase dialysis costs.
Akandoh clarified that the meeting never indicated whether the ministry intended not to consider the committee’s recommendations.
“Mr Speaker, I am ignoring Article 11(7)(a)(b)(c). …If you really want to reject such a regulation, you would need Parliament to reject such a regulation. Two-thirds is required.
Also read: Kidney patients seek help as dialysis costs reach GH¢491
“Mr Speaker, as a matter of urgency, I would like to use this platform to ask the Minister of Finance to come back to amend this particular law, because already the people cannot afford to pay 380 cedis. “There isn’t even one,” he said. .
Meanwhile, Chief Minority Leader Kwame Governs Agboza argued that if the charges were not reviewed, more people would die because they could not afford treatment.
“I have heard that the prevalence of kidney disease in our country is about 13%, but unfortunately the majority of the population cannot survive or survive. It is a serious problem.
“Mr Chairman, perhaps what we should be asking is that you encourage the relevant committees to redouble their efforts in every way possible to ensure that these increases, which have occurred at an inappropriate time, are reversed. “Yes,” he said. .
Majority Leader Frank Ano Dompre said he was satisfied that the NHIA had made a significant allocation of GH₵2 million to help the needy in terms of providing such services. Ta.
Related article: Government spends 2 million ¢ to support dialysis treatment – NHIA CEO
He argued that what Congress needs to do is find out what it can do to address the increase in dialysis treatments, and efforts are being made to see if this service could be moved to the NHIA. He added that there is.
“Thankfully, the Ranking Member knows about this issue. What the committee needs to do is investigate further, obtain more information, and inform this Congress to make a decision. We could decide to raise this issue as an urgent matter, but there are other things we can do as a committee.”
He called on the health committee to follow up on some allocations made by the National Health Service to subsidize costs, rather than exaggerating the problem for political gain.
Also read: Dialysis crisis: NHIA to introduce system to subsidize dialysis costs
“Mr. Chairman, I would like to challenge the leadership of the committee, including the Ranking Member, that the dedication was made after $2 million was provided by the NHIA in the process of passing the formula.” What more can I do to resolve the issue?
“For me, it should be something that engages our emotions and concerns. It shouldn’t just take the issue, dramatize it and leave it alone. The committee should do more and do more to address this issue. “We should instruct Congress to make certain decisions,” he said.
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