The minister and the Italian groups displaying the MoU
Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Gruppo San Donato and Universita Vita-Salute San Raffaele, both Italy based organisations to promote healthcare in Ghana.
While the MoU does not create any contractual relationship between the parties, it sets the grounds for the parties to work together in the true spirit of partnership to accelerate healthcare delivery.
Under the MOU, the parties have agreed to explore the joint development of an excellence health centre in Ghana and to support and encourage cooperation in distant medical consultations for international patients.
All telemedicine cooperation projects, entered into under the MoU, will obey national legislations with medical specialties and scope of activities determined by both parties.
Both parties will also explore annual visits, and will support Ghana with training opportunities for its health professionals as well as explore scientific research and academic exchange by both parties.
This MoU was signed on the sidelines of the second European Corporate Council on Africa and Middle East (ECAM) held in Italy last week.
Minister’s Presentation
Presenting a paper titled “The role of Ghana as a strategic regional healthcare hub in West Africa,” Mr. Agyeman-Manu (MP, Dormaa Central) said Ghana has identified medical tourism as a key agenda of the government.
He said with Agenda 111, and the country’s efficient management of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ghana stands ready to lead in medical service delivery in West Africa with investment in infrastructure, medical service value chain, education and research.
He said the effort to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is tied to the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda being pursued by the Akufo-Addo administration.
To this end, Ghana has put together the key architectural documentations to ensure it is able to embark on Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), and added that the country is focusing on medical services where it has comparative advantages in areas like cardiothoracic surgery, invitro fertilisation and other fertility solutions, orthopaedics, traditional medicine, among others.
“We plan to ensure we gain international accreditation seals on our facilities to ensure we achieve this. We plan to deploy a lot of technology in our medical tourism drive. This will include but not limited to e-health, m-health, artificial intelligence etc,” Mr. Agyeman-Manu said.
He said in building a robust health system, the government is opening up the space for private sector participation, explaining that “the fact is that government resources alone cannot enable us to achieve this.”
He said Ghana is cooperating with Italian companies to acquire support to develop a National Vaccine Institute.
He emphasised that the world must ensure that digital revolution benefits everyone and that no country can survive alone without strategic partners.
Collaboration
Vice-Chairman of the Normandy region and CEO of E4I Impact said E4I Impact aims to train entrepreneurs in Africa, contribute to human capital development and bridge the gap between African and Italian companies.
She disclosed that they are currently working in 17 African countries and have been in Ghana since 2013, working with the University of Professional Studies in Ghana to train entrepreneurs.
Mr. Agyeman-Manu welcomed the collaboration and emphasised the importance of entrepreneurship and indicated that he would link E4I with the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
ECAM
The ECAM Council has been promoting constructive dialogue, new partnerships and strong cooperation between Europe, Africa and the MENA region.
It is a private, non-profit and non-partisan association, founded on the direct initiative of Kamel Ghribi (President of GKSD Investment Holding) and Paolo Rotelli (President of Vita-Salute San Raffaele University).
The purpose of the council is to promote and develop relations between the countries of Europe, Africa and the MENA region, with Italy playing a leading role.
The 2021 Conference was held on the theme: “New Ways to Care.”
Ghana’s team at the conference was led by the Minister of Health with Dr. Emmanuel Odame, Director, Policy Planning Monitoring Evaluation, Ministry of Health (MoH) and Linda Nanbigne, Personal Assistant to the Minister as part of the delegation.