Ministry wants hospitals marketed abroad to attract foreign patients

Ministry of Health has proposed that several local hospitals be marketed abroad to attract more foreign patients.

The ministry says about 5,000 foreigners seek treatment in Kenya every year, an opportunity that can be exploited further.

The proposed facilities include Kenyatta National Hospital, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kenyatta University Referral, Research and Teaching Hospital, Nairobi Hospital, Mediheal Hospital and Karen hospital.

The ministry says MTRH already receives about 250 foreign patients every year, mostly from Uganda, South Sudan and Tanzania.

“Medical tourism in Kenya can be accelerated through embracing the public-private hospital partnership. Already Medheal hospital has commenced liver and kidney transplants centres at Eldoret,” the ministry says in a concept note.

The plan has been developed by the ministry’s directorate of health standards, quality assurance and regulation, which is headed by Dr Simon Kibias.

“Research conducted recently noted that the private health sector in Kenya is one of the most developed and dynamic in sub –Saharan Africa, also Kenya is among the top six destinations where Africans visit seeking high- end specialised medical services, hence the need to leverage on public private partnership,” the report notes.

Mediheal hospital said its cardiac surgery programme in Parklands received 50 foreign patients last year.

Gokul Prem Kumar, the vice president and head of business relations at Mediheal, said the patients came from Sierra Leone, DR Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Central Africa Republic, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania, Burundi, Malawi and South Sudan.

“Recently we also received some patients from Europe, notably two from Israel for cardiac care due to the long doctor queue time in their countries,” he said.

The ministry said improvements in local facilities would also stem the tide where about 10,000 Kenyans travel abroad for treatment.

An analysis of patients referred abroad for treatment between 2015 and October 2020 showed that 52 per cent were male, with the youngest patient being four days old and the oldest 86-year-old.

The age category with the highest number of outbound Kenyan patients is 50-55 years while the mean age is 39 years.

The majority of Kenyans travel abroad for cancer treatment, followed by cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal conditions, renal diseases and central nervous system conditions.

The ministry says National Hospital Insurance Fund catered for 85 per cent of all patients referred for treatment abroad between 2015-2020, while private insurers paid for eight per cent of patients.

The rest paid from out of pocket. At least 97 per cent of patients go to India, with the rest visiting South Africa, USA, and United Kingdom.

“Some patients interviewed quoted high cost of treatment in Kenya, long waiting period, lack of specialised medics and equipment as some of the reasons for travelling abroad,” the ministry said.