KEY POINTS
- Ghana’s Bone Marrow Transplant Centre will cost $11 million.
- Project aims to reduce the need for patients to travel abroad.
- Fundraising is essential to complete the centre within two years.
Officials said the Leukaemia Foundation Project in Ghana will establish an $11 million Bone Marrow Transplant Centre to close critical gaps in leukaemia treatment. The centre will also reduce the need for patients to travel abroad for care.
Peter Osei-Tutu, Vice President of the Foundation, said the project includes the cost of equipment and is expected to commence early next year. “The whole project, including equipment for the centre, will cost us about $11 million, or roughly GH₵177 million,” he said.
Bone marrow transplant centre to start in February
The team plans to begin construction in February, but fundraising continues to pose a significant challenge. Osei-Tutu said the Foundation hopes to complete the project within two years, emphasizing the urgency due to the severity of the disease.
“The documentary exposed serious limitations in leukaemia treatment in Ghana,” he noted. “That’s why we decided to set up this genetic centre, where we can perform some of the procedures that are not currently available in Ghana.”
The proposed centre would help families avoid traveling overseas for treatment, allowing patients to remain close to family support while accessing critical procedures such as bone marrow and cell transplants.
Fundraising remains key to tackling leukaemia
Osei-Tutu acknowledged that while some treatments are available locally, advanced therapies remain inaccessible. “We face great difficulty raising funds to carry out some of these initiatives in Ghana,” he said, noting support from Stanbic and Ecobank. He also urged corporate bodies and individuals to contribute, emphasizing that even small donations can save lives.
Sharing a personal motivation, Osei-Tutu revealed his elder brother died from leukaemia, underscoring the importance of completing the centre quickly. “It’s very important that we raise enough money to complete this quickly because it is a very critical disease,” he said.
He further commended the media for raising national awareness about leukaemia, noting that cancer education in Ghana has improved over time. “People are now finding out what these silent killers are and how important it is to put something up to help alleviate people’s problems,” Osei-Tutu added.
