Patients needing dialysis and other specialised renal treatment in northern Ghana could soon have better access to care following plans by the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (GMTF) and TEK-iMAS Medikal to support the expansion of services at the Tamale Teaching Hospital.
The two organisations are exploring a partnership with the hospital to establish a dialysis centre, increase the number of dialysis machines and improve infrastructure and other aspects of renal care.
The proposal emerged during a fact-finding visit by representatives of GMTF and TEK-iMAS Medikal to assess the hospital’s needs and determine how the partnership could be developed.
Speaking on behalf of the Chairman of the Governing Board of Tamale Teaching Hospital, Dr Simon Naporo, Prof Baba Sulemana Mohammed said the hospital had significant opportunities to strengthen critical areas of healthcare.
He welcomed the proposed partnership, saying the hospital serves more than seven million people across eight regions of Ghana and is also receiving an increasing number of patients from neighbouring countries, including Togo, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Niger.
Prof Baba said the growing demand was gradually positioning the hospital as a regional centre for specialist healthcare and health tourism.
He said this made it important for government and private sector organisations to work together to provide the equipment, infrastructure and specialised services needed to meet the needs of patients.
Beyond dialysis, he called for similar partnerships in areas such as urology, oncology and advanced imaging.
According to him, patients sometimes have to travel long distances to access such services when they are unavailable at the hospital because of operational challenges or equipment breakdowns.
The Chairman of the Board of TEK-iMAS Medikal, Ahmet Kamil Salahoglu, said the organisation’s proposed support would not be limited to setting up a dialysis centre.
He said the partnership would also include training and capacity building for local healthcare professionals to strengthen the quality and sustainability of renal care at the hospital.
The Director of Medical Affairs at Tamale Teaching Hospital, Prof Alhassan Abdul-Mumin, who represented the Chief Executive Officer, welcomed the initiative and thanked the two organisations for their interest in supporting the hospital.
He said management recognised the importance of the proposed partnership and was committed to working with the organisations to ensure its successful implementation.
The Ghana Medical Trust Fund was represented by its Policy Advisor on Health, Dr Norbert Kipo, and its Northern Regional Coordinator, Isaac Konlan.
Dr Kipo said the Fund was working with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to identify essential services that are not currently covered by the NHIS benefits package.
He said the aim was for the Fund to help cover the cost of some of those services and make specialised treatment more accessible to patients.
Dr Kipo said the Fund was also considering a comprehensive tariff covering various non-communicable diseases and the range of services it could support.
He said the Fund had identified gaps in healthcare financing and was committed to working with partners to address them.
If implemented, the proposed partnership would give patients in northern Ghana greater access to dialysis and other specialised renal services at Tamale Teaching Hospital, potentially reducing the need to travel long distances to seek treatment elsewhere.
For a region serving millions of people, hospital managers say expanding specialist services is becoming increasingly important as demand for healthcare continues to grow.
