Dr. Ezekiel Obeng-Agyekum, a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Health Manifesto Committee, has assured that the free dialysis promise by the party’s Presidential Candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, is genuine and not a political gimmick.
He emphasized that Bawumia’s commitment to providing free dialysis treatment for renal patients will be realized if he is elected in the 2024 general elections.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has criticized Bawumia’s pledge, labelling it as a political manoeuvre intended to deceive voters.
In an interview with Bernard Avle on The Point of View on Channel One TV, Dr. Obeng-Agyekum refuted claims that the promise is merely a tactic to attract votes, explaining that it is based on thorough data analysis.
He expressed confidence that with effective management of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) funds and proper allocation, the initiative will be financially sustainable.
“The dialysis issue, we have had a lot of conversations around it. The government gave a road map that for starters, let’s pilot an idea where we seek to assist the people living with the condition. To start with, we said that anyone within the age of retirement will have free dialysis sessions. People within the ages of non-employability will also have dialysis being done for free. And those within the working age will have theirs subsidised.
“Within the six months, we were piloting the idea, reviewing the books, doing the calculations, doing the estimate, how many people are living with the conditions, we go back to about ten years. And with all things being equal under normal temperature and pressure, how many people are we envisaging to have the condition?
“What are the remittances to the National Health Insurance Scheme and whether it is feasible to cater completely for all persons living with the conditions? We did our studies and spoke to stakeholders, about proper management of the NHIS funds coming in, with proper allocation to the authority, we should be able to cover the condition. It has nothing to do with elections or electoral gimmicks, it’s a purely data-driven exercise that we did.”
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