Member of parliament for the Ningo Prampram Constituency, Samuel Nartey George, has expressed regret over what he claims to be an increase in kidney failure cases among young people.

The MP claims that although some people may have received the diagnosis for no apparent reason, many of the cases among young people are the result of bad decisions made in life, such as the widespread use of shisha, or flavor-infused tobacco.

“I am going to say something that Ghanaian youth will not be happy about but look, we are a very irresponsible people when it comes to our healthcare and our life choices.

"There are people who have developed kidney challenges by no fault of theirs but a majority of those reporting with this thing is just horrible, irresponsible life choices,” he stated during an interview on Joynews.

“They are smoking like locomotive engines, they have dumped cigarettes and have jumped on that killer called shisha and it is killing; you drive in Accra, around East Legon and you see young people putting off steam like locomotive engines all in the name of fashion,” he added.

The recent surge in documented cases of kidney failure has ignited a significant level of public apprehension within the community. Adding to this concern is the extended closure of the Renal Unit at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, which has been unavailable for dialysis services for some time.

In the midst of these growing concerns, Sam George highlighted that crucial health and lifestyle decisions, including dietary, beverage, and inhalation choices, have become pivotal factors contributing to the declining health among the younger population.

“They’ve flavoured death for you in pineapple, watermelon and whatever flavour and you are licking death. I mean, we are not eating well. Alcohol; we are a country of just 33 million and we have almost a hundred different types of bitters. I mean, all kinds of concoctions in the name of aphrodisiacs.

“It’s like we are a sex crazy generation that needs to do anything and everything just to prove a point. We are drinking the wrong things, eating the wrong things and smoking our lungs into oblivion. We need to check our life choices as a country. It’s a problem; it is a pandemic,” the MP lamented.