Kenya inks deal with global firm to boost medical tourism

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medical treatment

Kenya signed an agreement with a global medical tourism consultancy to boost the number of foreigners visiting the country for treatment as part of efforts to boost medical tourism. medical treatment
Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) signed the partnership agreement with A&K Global Health (AKGH) in Nairobi late Tuesday to enable the consultancy firm to lobby for the improvement of the quality and scope of medical services across Kenya to meet customer demand for international standards.
Kenya hopes to utilize AKGH’s network and services to improve patient movement into Kenya as the global health firm will prepare health packages from the local hospitals highlighting the key needed medical procedures, wellness packages and diagnostic procedures.
Under the deal, AKGH and KTB will build an On-line Destination Management database of hotels, guesthouses and apartments near hospitals and jointly hosted on KTB and AKGH websites in order to effectively and safely manage the patients travelling to Kenya.
“This agreement we look to achieve a number of things to package and promote medical tourism products as part of the destination attraction, leading to increased number of visitors and increased utilization of the capacity of our medical resources, ” said KTB Managing Director Muriithi Ndegwa.
The East African nation has identified medical tourism as a potential product the country can position in order to boost tourism number and income, especially from the region.
Ndegwa said international accreditation provides a competitive advantage to Kenyan hospitals, and strengthens regional and global confidence in the quality and safety of care, treatment, and services.
Kenyans spend an estimated 120 million U.S. dollars annually on medical treatment abroad, causing problems on loss of scarce foreign exchange, according the health ministry. The country plans to build local facilities and launch a strategic medical tourism scheme to reduce the amount of money spent abroad.
Improved health facilities will be in every one of the 47 counties as part of the devolution project giving county governments more power.
“Africans leaving the continent to seek medical services abroad spend on average between 20,000 dollars and 40,000 dollars per visit, making this product a high revenue earning product for tourism,” Ndegwa said.
He said Kenya seeks to diversify its tourism products from beaches and safari parks.
“Medical tourism was always in our strategic plan. This is a step towards growing the number of visitors coming into the country and growing the revenue contribution from this key foreign exchange earner,” he added. Enditem

-Xinhua

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