The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has partnered global biopharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim to strengthen the prevention, early detection and management of chronic kidney diseases, particularly among people living with hypertension and diabetes.
The partnership, under the CRM Patient Africa programme, seeks to address gaps in kidney disease care through research, improved screening and diagnosis, healthcare professional training and better access to treatment for underserved communities.
The initiative comes amid concerns over the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the country, with health officials identifying hypertension and diabetes as major drivers of kidney complications and calling for stronger preventive interventions.
The programme will generate local evidence on patients’ needs and challenges, support early identification of kidney diseases and strengthen links between community health care, primary care and referral facilities to ensure continuity of treatment.
They will, through the initiative, launched in Accra yesterday, work with existing health structures and national stakeholders to improve patient outcomes.
The partnership is on the theme: “Advancing sustainable healthcare in Ghana through innovation, partnership and impact”.
Outcomes
The Director of Public Health at GHS, Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, said the partnership must translate research and evidence into practical improvements in healthcare delivery.
He said many patients reported late at health facilities, while limited diagnostic services, specialised care and weak referral systems continued to affect effective management.
Dr Asiedu-Bekoe called for stronger prevention, frontline healthcare training, reliable referral pathways, affordable services and measurable outcomes.
He said the government’s Free Primary Healthcare initiative presented an opportunity to bring prevention and early kidney disease detection closer to communities.
Early detection
The Director of More Health at BI, Dr James Kinniburgh, said chronic kidney diseases were frequently detected late, when opportunities to prevent or slow their progression had diminished.
He said the programme would use evidence from the Serum Alliance study to guide screening, strengthen healthcare professionals’ capabilities and improve access to treatment.
Dr Kinniburgh also pledged to take concerns about the affordability of medicines to the company’s leadership in Germany to make its medicines available at affordable prices.
Concerns
The NCD Programme Manager, Dr Wallace Odiko-Ollennu, said hypertension and diabetes remained among the country’s leading NCD concerns, with one in five people in the country living with hypertension.
He cited studies conducted at selected sites that found chronic kidney disease prevalence of 13.3 per cent in one study and 25.7 per cent among 7,781 patients attending hypertension and diabetes clinics in another.
Dr Odiko-Ollennu called for kidney assessments to become part of routine care for people with hypertension and diabetes.
The Head of the Medical and Dental Programme Technical Coordination Directorate at the Ministry of Health, Ernest Konadu Asiedu, also said although the National Health Insurance Scheme covered aspects of kidney disease management, including dialysis, preventive interventions remained essential to reduce the financial and physical burden on patients.
