In recent years, India has taken on a larger than life persona among the middle class in Kenya as a preferred medical tourism destination. As one who studied in that country many years ago when it was a perfect education destination for those who required university admission but missed the minimum floating entry points required for admission into the only university in Kenya then, it was the logical place to go as it had hundreds of universities to choose from, a myriad of courses to suit any number of individuals, a mere 5 hours flying time from Nairobi, a multicultural student population depending on the university college that you were admitted to and more importantly was easy on the pocket.
Today with tens of universities across Kenya to choose from and access to distance and correspondence studies from hundreds of universities and colleges worldwide, I think India is one of the destinations that has lost out as a favorite education destination for Kenyan students. However, it has more than replaced what it lost in student enrolments with medical tourists from Kenya and indeed across the world seeking to visit the hundreds of medical facilities, many of them specialist facilities for advanced medical care and treatment at a fraction of the cost of similar treatment here at home.
India as a country with a population exceeding a billion strong (I heard 2.1 billion on radio recently but it was probably a dyslexic radio announcer that meant to say 1.2 billion) the doctors there have surely seen it all and by the same token have become experts in their chosen fields of specialization if the success rate of the many people that I know that have been treated in that country is anything to go by.
By and large the same conditions that saw many of us flock to India for studies many years ago are the same ones driving the medical tourism business today, to wit hundreds of hospitals to choose from, a myriad of specialists to suit any number of individuals, a mere 5 hours flying time from Nairobi, a multicultural patient population and more importantly is easy on the pocket.
My understanding is that the medical field in India is so competitive that to get to the top of the profession requires a commitment to providing medical care and not necessarily enriching yourself in the process. Pre-eminent and wealthy doctors are also found in India, but their journey to the apex of their careers has been a slow slog after years of success and positive contribution to their chosen speciality that then gains them a glowing professional reputation. This is a country where if your condition is diagnosed as being at an advanced stage and therefore inoperable or untreatable, this information is conveyed to you early enough without expensive surgical interventions, whereas the practice at home might be most likely for a doctor to see an opportunity to make some money and to therefore immediately recommend an elaborate surgical procedure to be carried out exploiting the desperation many families face and they are ready to cling to any possibility of a cure and that shall cost a fortune and with no hope of recovery to the patient therefore ensuring that families spend the last few resources they had paying for a treatment regimen that is doomed to fail from the word go!
But why can’t this medical tourism business practice be replicated right here in Kenya? Has any county government thought of partnering with those hospitals in India to set up facilities and laboratories similar to those in India in their backyards? Has any county government thought of partnering with those same hospitals and utilizing existing medical facilities in their counties for setting up of specialized medical units/branches of those Indian hospitals?
At the risk of possibly aggravating those in the medical profession, would any government refuse duty and tax concessions for life saving medical equipment and drugs so as to push the costs of seeking treatment here at par with what one pays in India? Imagine the consequences of such actions such as outsourced residential accommodation close to the medical facility, a possible reduction in the cost of treatment at competing private hospitals in the country, a reduction in health insurance premiums because now health care is now more competitively priced and the cost of repatriation to India to seek cheaper treatment is no longer an insurance rider option, additional jobs for Kenyan nurses and doctors in the facilities, improvement in general healthcare practices as competition intensifies etc etc.
A well thought out strategy to increase the accessibility of quality healthcare through such strategic partnerships formulated by the Central government, the licensing board for doctors, dentists and other medical practitioners, the KRA, Immigration Department and other interested bodies would see the destination of choice for medical tourism shifting to Kenya (or specifically one or several counties) and by the same token improving on the accessibility of quality medical care to more Kenyans who may not have the resources to seek treatment in foreign countries.
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