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Two patients have undergone kidney transplants at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) and are currently recuperating. It is the first time Ghana’s premier hospital has undertaken the highly delicate surgery.
The procedures were carried out by a team of Ghanaian specialist doctors, nurses and anaesthetists, performed among others on July 4 and 5, 2023 on the patients, both of whom are males.
The crew had access to two foreigners, a theatre technician and a transplant surgeon, as confidence boosters.
Female donors who donated their kidneys to the patients are said to be in good condition and have already been released.
The first patient began producing urine 24 hours after the first surgery, which was a positive indication that his body had synchronized with the new kidney, according to Professor James Edward Mensah, Head of the Department of Surgery at KBTH.
He further disclosed that an ethical committee made up of surgeons, attorneys, and other specialists had been established to develop rules to make sure the hospital did not get into any legal wrangling in its bid to save the lives of patients suffering kidney-related diseases.
Prof. Mensah added that the committee would ensure that kidney donors received proper counselling and information among other relevant things.
The expensive surgery, each of which is estimated to cost $21,000 were sponsored by the First Sky Group, a Ghanaian-owned private company. Three more kidney transplants are expected to be conducted by KBTH next month, also sponsored by the same benevolent company.
This groundbreaking feat by the KBTH will benefit patients greatly because many of them previously had to travel to South Africa or India for such expensive treatments that cost over $250,000.
Urologist at KBTH, Professor Mathew Kyei told journalists that the hospital had assessed its capacity and realized that it could only perform three surgeries per month, so even though six patients had been scheduled for surgery, only three would be carried out the following month.
He added that about 1,000 people were undergoing dialysis at various hospitals across the nation right now and the First Sky Group pays for 250 patients to get dialysis at the KBTH three times per week.
