Zambia invites Turkey to invest in health sector
By NATION REPORTER THE Zambian Mission in Turkey has called on investors in that country to establish centres of excellence in the health sector in Zambia for specialist treatment.
Chargé d' Affaires at the Zambia Mission in Turkey, Bwalya Nondo said over 150 patients each year require specialist treatment in foreign health facilities in South Africa, United Kingdom, and India where the Government and private Zambian individuals spend not less than US$ 10,000 per treatment.
Mr Nondo said to cut on costs related with treatment in foreign health facilities, Zambia offers opportunities for the private sector to develop health facilities that could provide specialist medical diagnostic and treatment services.
Mr Nondo said this during a symposium on health in Konya, Turkey’s agriculture, commerce, and industrial hub.
He said malaria, HIV and AIDS were other ailments that triggered demand for pharmaceutical products and were in most cases sourced outside the continent.
This is contained in a media statement released by First secretary for Press in Turkey Jerry Munthali.
Mr Nondo was concerned that Zambia had experienced an increase in lifestyle related disease such as obesity, cancer and diabetes, which were posing new challenges for the health sector.
“The health sector is thus undergoing important changes , giving rise to potential business opportunities, and I would like to call on Turkish companies to consider investing in Zambia’s health sector, which will not only serve the country but also the entire Southern African region,” he said.
Government, he noted, had increased funding to the healthcare system and was emphasizing private sector participa-tion in both financing and provision of high quality healthcare including public private partnerships (PPP) in the develop-ing major health programmes.
He said Government would this year introduce the Health Insurance Bill that will enable the country enhance resource mobilization towards universal health provision.