NHIS can cover renal services - Dr. Okoe Boye explains how it can be done - MyJoyOnline

Elaborating on the ways the government can reduce the burden on kidney patients, he said; "First of all, politically we have been going back and forth on funding to NHIS.

"Secondly, we can put some levy referred to as syntax on some one or two products which are normally not consumed by the ordinary person but by people in a particular class and the inflows on that can go into a fund not necessarily with National Health Insurance

"It can be the chronic disease fund or the peripheral disease fund which would go to the departments that take care of kidney care and other conditions like cardio diseases so that instead of the GHȼ700 cedis that is been looked at, you can retain GHȼ200 because GHȼ500 cedis has been paid for by this fund.

"Thirdly, we as a country can come together to take away all the taxes on any item that goes into kidney care

We can look at two or three consumables that affect the pricing and the state can procure them directly."

Various stakeholders have advised that the service be migrated onto the NHIS, but those opposed say the scheme lacks the financial strength to take it up.

However, Dr Boye mentioned that a five-member committee has been charged to come up with recommendations to sustain the renal unit.