Kidney for sale: Some demand cash, others just a two-bedroom apartment — President of Renal Patients reveals

Baffour Kojo Ahenkorah, President of the Renal Patients Association, has revealed the financial measures kidney disease patients in Ghana are taking to afford life-saving treatments.

During an interview on Joy News' PM Express, he revealed that with high dialysis costs pushing patients to desperation, many are resorting to buying kidneys outright - some paying millions of cedis, while others offer properties in exchange.

Ahenkorah's revelations follow Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's announcement that starting December 1, 2024, the government will provide free dialysis under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

The initiative is meant to lessen the overwhelming expenses kidney patients face.

Reflecting on his own decade-long experience, Ahenkorah shared that his cumulative dialysis costs have reached a point where he could have easily funded a kidney transplant if he had the funds upfront.

“If I calculate the 10 years now, the money I’ve spent, I could have done a transplant easily with that money,” he explained.

Despite regular treatments, he and others have struggled to save enough for transplants.

Ahenkorah shared that economic hardship is slowly creating a market for the sale of kidneys in Ghana, where people are driven by the money to sell off their kidneys.

“People are selling it indirectly. In Ghana, people are doing it indirectly,” he said, noting that sellers may request millions of cedis or even houses in exchange for a compatible kidney.

“Some people are selling it for about ¢3 million or ¢4 million... Somebody will say, ‘Get me a two-bedroom apartment, let me go and stay there, and I’ll give you one of my kidneys,’” he added.

Even when a kidney can be acquired, patients must still pay an additional $25,000 for the transplant surgery, adding to the financial pressure.

Ahenkorah revealed that aside from dialysis, he has spent a lot on medications alone, which he says could have otherwise funded a transplant.

For patients like Ahenkorah, the NHIS-backed dialysis initiative is a lifeline that could potentially allow them to save for a transplant in the future.

However, the emotional and financial toll of kidney disease on both patients and their families remains profound, with many continuing to balance the costs of ongoing treatments and family obligations.