Freddie Blay
Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman, Freddie Blay, has called on policymakers to develop some mechanism that will project the country as the number one tourist destination in Africa.
He highlighted that medical tourism in the country has not been well-developed to attract many clients from around the world to receive medical services.
The medical tourism industry is valued at $20 billion per year, with nearly seven million patients seeking healthcare abroad.
Chairman Blay, as affectionately called, is of the view that with the right policy and technology in place, Ghana stands a chance of increasing its revenue in the future through medical tourism.
Mr. Blay applauded the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Holy Trinity Medical Centre, Dr. Felix Anyah, for championing medical tourism in the country; one that he stated has been emulated by other countries across the globe.
“He has made Ghanaians accept medical tourism and he was the first person to speak about it. And this is one of the policies people are playing with but sooner than later it will be a mainstream policy,” he said.
He made this assertion at the 36th anniversary celebration of Holy Trinity Medical Centre last Saturday in Accra.
Dr. Anyah, in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, said South Africa is the only African country that has emerged as the lead medical tourist destination on the continent.
This, he said, was born out of the South African government’s continuous investment in world-class medical procedures and practitioners, which has witnessed exponential growth with its medical tourism industry receiving 1.9 million visitors between 2003 and 2008 for medical treatment.
“These efforts by South Africa could be emulated by Ghana by developing deliberate key strategies and policies aimed at improving the quality of care, acquiring appropriate medical technology for quality healthcare,” he said.
Dr. Anyah said the government needs to take deliberate action to expand public facilities to provide services that meet international standards, international travel policies, tax exemptions for the importation of equipment to support the development of health facilities, creation of a coordination unit, training for auxiliary and support systems for health tourism.
Dr. Anyah emphasised the creation of accreditation systems stating that, “It is important that the Ministry of Health creates systems that enable facilities to undergo International Accreditation Systems, making these hospitals comparable to others so that potential clients can have confidence in the health services provided by these facilities.”
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke