The Deputy Director of Nursing Services at the hospital, Ms Irene Mensah-Jacobs, made this known when the Parliamentary Committee on Health paid a familiarisation tour of the facility last Monday.

She attributed the alarming increase in the rate of kidney cases to galamsey and the abuse of herbal medicine.

Daily average

On average, she said, the hospital received 21 cases daily and described that as unacceptable.

She said a 12-year-old girl was one of the patients who had been diagnosed with the disease, adding: “It is very pathetic that this young girl has to live with this renal failure disease for the rest of her life.”

Ms Mensah-Jacobs appealed to the government to remove taxes on the importation of dialysis machines to help cater for as many patients as possible.

Abuse

The Chairman of the committee, Dr Kwabena Twum-Nuamah, expressed grave concern over advertisements on herbal medicines in the media and on vehicles and described the practice as “very dangerous to the health of the people”. 

“Now people are advertising on radio and TV, claiming their herbal preparations have the power to cure many diseases,” he said.

He said renal failure should be a condition for the elderly, but noted that it was now for people as young as 12 years.

Dr Twum-Nuamah said every medicine had its side effect, hence the need for the preparation of medicines to go through elaborate processes in order to attain the desired effect.

He underscored the need for the law enforcement agencies to enforce the Public Health Act 2012 (Act 851) that prevents people from advertising herbal preparations at the wrong places.