Terminally Ill Woman Sent To Ghana From UK Cannot Afford Urgent Treatment

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Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice;  Lymphoma / Leukemia / Myeloma
Article Date: 11 Jan 2008 - 10:00 PDT

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Ama Sumani, 39, who has terminal cancer and requires kidney dialysis, was forced back to Ghana from the UK when her visa expired. UK authorities say they were assured medical treatment would be available for her in Ghana before she was flown out of.

Soon after being removed from University Hospital, Cardiff, Wales, Sumani went to hospital in Accra, Ghana, where she had to pay £3,000 ($6,000) for three months' worth of kidney dialysis. British officials who were with her offered to pay for this. However, she does not have the money to pay for her required ongoing medical care and will not get it unless UK authorities help her out.

According to Mrs. Sumani's lawyers, she had accepted her removal from the UK. The lawyers are asking for consideration to be made on compassionate grounds.

A Member of Parliament (MP) says the Home Office has been "callous" for forcing a terminally ill woman to return home. Sumani suffers from malignant myeloma. She has received dialysis in Cardiff for the past year after cancer damaged her kidneys. She had come to the UK five years ago as a student.

Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris, who is also co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Kidney Group, said "I am appalled by the callous conduct of the Home Office. This woman - who is terminally ill anyway - needs regular dialysis to stay alive. If the Home Office is willing to pay £3,000 for treatment plus thousands more pounds for her removal, they may well as well have paid for her treatment here at least until they had confirmed that she would get treatment in Ghana."

Dr Harris, MP, Oxford West and Abingdon, said "This shows the Government at its most amoral, no doubt arguing that if they don't act tough then other people will deliberately develop fatal kidney failure in order to evade immigration control."

Mrs. Sumani was not deported from the UK, rather she was removed from Wales - so, she can still apply to come back.

Written by - Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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