National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIA) CEO, Dr. Dacosta Aboagye, told local media in late 2024 that “24 out of 1 million Ghanaians suffer from end-stage kidney disease.” And at the Accra-based Korle Bu Teaching Hospital alone, over 2,800 kidney cases were recorded in the first half of 2025. But despite the demand, or perhaps because of it, a kidney transplant in the West African country can currently cost around US$50,000 (€43,000), far beyond what most citizens can afford. Dialysis treatment, for which the government rolled out a free program in late 2024, remains limited and expensive over time, with no assurance of cure.
There are also shortages of surgeons and donors for eye care. As of 2022, Ghana had only four corneal surgeons, who managed just 14 surgeries nationwide.
“A majority of Ghanaians who are corneal blind will never see again,” said eye specialist Dr. James Addy, country director of the Himalayan Cataract Project. With about 250,000 visually impaired citizens, 11% are blind from corneal disease, while 26,000 risk irreversible blindness due to limited transplant options.
Yet, Ghana lacks a legal framework for organ donation, and no registry tracks deaths linked to these gaps.
Proposed donation bill
In March 2024, former presidential health advisor Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare announced a draft bill had been submitted to the Ministry of Health.
Still pending, the so-called Organ and Tissue Donation Bill would establish: an authority to regulate donations and transplants; transplantation centers and cell/tissue banks for legal, safe operations; and a national registry of donors and recipients to ensure fairness and traceability. The bill would also address consent, ethics, equitable access, and penalties around organ donations and harvesting.
However, it has taken long for the bill to pass lawmakers, despite strong support from MPs for regulation of organ transplantation. In March 2025, MP Fred Keyi Asamoah stressed the need to focus on other organs such as hearts, livers, intestines, and lungs, saying: “It is quite unfortunate that we in Ghana still do not have such a law in place. People are able to do whatever they want, disregarding the risks that come along with transplants.”
Addressing the media recently, the CEO of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Dr. Yakubu Seidu Adam noted that with regulation, some procedures could cost less than 500 Cedis (€34) locally. This is much lower than importing corneas from abroad, or Ghanaians traveling abroad from treatment.
Many increasingly in India, due to high costs at home or distrust in local health services.
Risks of legalization
Despite the bill’s promise, policing organ transplants could become difficult. Between 2021 and 2024, the Ghana Police Service (GPS) and Immigration Service (GIS) repeatedly raised concerns over illegal harvesting syndicates and warned citizens against being lured abroad for exploitation.
A 2021 BioMed Central Nephrology study carried out at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital said the burden on patients of chronic kidney disease in Africa is three to four times higher compared to high-income countries. It found 67.3% of chronic kidney disease patients were willing to undergo transplant, with 87.3% unconcerned about distrust, showing desperation for survival.
As Ghana’s parliament edges closer to passing the bill, bolstering public education, safety, and legislation might not be enough. Ghana is also battling a medical brain drain, where a 2024 study found 71.8% of doctors planned to migrate.
Edited by Cai Nebe
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