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Patients suffering from kidney stones can now heave a sigh of relief as the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) has taken delivery of an ultra-modern C-Arm Fluoroscopy, also known as Image Intensifier.

The equipment,which costs$45,000,was presented to the hospital by the District Grand Lodge of Ghana (English Constituent) of the United Grand Lodge of England.

According to the Head of Urology at the teaching hospital, Dr J.E. Mensah, patients had to be referred to South Africa or India for treatment at a cost of $15,000, but with the new equipment, cost of treatment has been reduced to GH₵2,000.

He also explained that without the new equipment, patients had to be operated on, and could be admitted for a week or more, but with the C-Arm, patients could be discharged within 24hrs after treatment.

He added that on the average, they treat four patients every week, and mentioned that there was the need for each regional hospital to have the equipment so that treatment can be decentralised.

He said prior to the C-Arm, they had a laser machine that could treat stones that were easy to locate, but they had to refer those with stones hidden deep to South Africa for treatment.

Dr Mensah said the country has 40 urologists, but if there is an endourologist in each region, they could train more specialists in the country to fight kidney stones. He said the specialists are trained both locally and internationally.

He said capacity building was his priority; therefore, with the new equipment, they would train more specialists.

He again mentioned that kidney stones has recently been on the rise among corporate workers, which was the case some years ago, and therefore advised Ghanaians to take in more fluid to prevent stones.

On his part, the District Grand Master, Isaac Hood, explained that the donation to the hospital was part of their activities to the mark the 300th birthday of their mother body.

He said the group is a charity organisation that helps the needy, so they always look out for persons or institutions that need assistance and they go in to help.

He said some of their members are staff of Korle Bu, who they brought the issue up during deliberations, so they took it upon themselves and contributed to acquire the equipment for the hospital.

The District Grand Master was accompanied by the Deputy District Grand Master, Joseph Benjamin Ampah; and District Junior Grand Warden, Dr Mike Segbefia.