Samia roots for Medical Tourism
PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has rooted for Medical Tourism as a potential area worth exploiting in the industry.
Singling out the Kilimanjaro Medical Christian Center (KCMC) super specialized health services, the President said Medical Tourism had a potential of contributing to a wider country's economic development.
President Samia made the remarks on Saturday, during the occasion to mark 50th anniversary since the establishment of the KCMC Zonal Referral Hospital.
According to Ms Samia, the specialized medical services offered at KCMC and other health facilities, had in the recent past seen people from other parts of the world flocking the country for medical related services.
"KCMC is famed for its unmatched health services, the same can be said about the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI) in Dar es Salaam, this is an area which deserved to be exploited for growing the economy," suggested the President while gracing the Medical facility's 50th anniversary yesterday.
She further described the health facility as a center of excellence in teaching, research and development of health professionals in Tanzania, thus necessitating the influx of patients from other places into the country.
"The commissioning of a 2.3bn/- worth of Intensive care units by the government at KCMC has seen more and more people thronging the health facility for specialized treatment," she explained.
The President insisted that the government will continue investing heavily in modern health equipment and services to save foreign exchange earnings and promote medical tourism.
Medical tourism refers to an organized travel outside one's natural healthcare jurisdiction for the enhancement or restoration of the individual's health through medical intervention, using but not limited to invasive technology.
According to latest data, Malaysia remains the leading recipient of medical tourists.
The Asian nation experiences up to 500,000 medical tourists who mostly come from Asia each year.
The country's health costs are said to be affordable despite having a highly developed medical infrastructure.
India is also included on the list, where it attracts medical tourists from Africa and some parts of Asia.
President Samia further commended the leadership of the Good Samaritan Foundation (GSF) which owns and manages KCMC as well as that of KCMC hospital for furthering the good dreams of the founders of the hospital; the late Bishop Dr Stephano Moshi and the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere the first President of Tanzania.
"These two founders planted good seed and watered it and it bore fruits, but you who enabled the plant to grow successfully deserve your congratulations as well and that is why we are here to celebrate half a century of this great institution that provides care to patients from both inside and outside the country," she said.
She also commended the management of KCMC Hospital for its plans to set up a cardiac unit whereby she said the decision compliments the government's efforts to bring health services closer to its people.
"By introducing the heart treatment department, you will help reduce the congestion of those who go to seek treatment for Jakaya Kikwete Heart Institute in Dar es Salaam and many others who go abroad to seek such services", she said.
Earlier, KCMC Executive Director Dr Giliard Masenga informed the President has a bed occupancy rate of 686 today from 350 beds when it was established 50 years ago.
It had also put in place 56 Intensive Care Unit and 17 operating theatres.
"We have in the recent past been improving service delivery with a view of reaching out to many Tanzanians and other patients in East Africa," he said.
