First kidney transplant performed at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital

The first kidney transplants in the nation were carried out by a local team of medical professionals at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) on two patients.

The procedures were carried out by the Ghanaian team, which included specialised doctors, nurses, and anaesthetists, on July 4 and 5. The two patients, both male, are now resting at the institution.

Female donors who served as them are doing OK and have already been released.

The crew had access to two foreigners, a theatre technician and a transplant surgeon, as confidence boosters.

The average cost of each procedure is $21,000.

The surgeries were sponsored by the First Sky Group, an indigenous private company.

The hospital is expected to perform three additional surgeries next month with sponsorship by the First Sky Group.

The breakthrough will save patients a great deal, as many of them had resorted to either India or South Africa for such surgeries which cost more than $250,000.

Briefing
At a press conference to celebrate the accomplishments of the KBTH and its staff, a urologist, Professor Mathew Kyei, explained that the hospital’s capacity analysis revealed 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 claimed that approximately 1,000 people were undergoing dialysis at various hospitals across the nation right now.

The First Sky Group, however, pays for 250 patients to get dialysis at the KBTH three times per week.

Update
The first patient began producing urine 24 hours after the first surgery, which was a positive indication that his body had synchronised with the new kidney, according to Professor James Edward Mensah, Head of the Department of Surgery at KBTH, who provided an update on the two patients.