By James Maina
The Dubai–Africa Partnership for Better Health Roadshow was held this week at the Laico Regency Hotel in Nairobi and featured 16 of the biggest hospitals from Dubai.
This marks the first ever Kenya chapter of the roadshow and presents an opportunity for Dubai-based healthcare providers to offer more specialized and advanced care to visiting health tourists from the region.
This is the second leg of the Dubai–Africa Partnership, which was launched between March 15th to 22nd in 2017 in Lagos and Accra.
The one-day event was held under the patronage of Dubai Health Authority (DHA), in association with Dubai Health Experience (DXH) and in partnership with Emirates Airline.
Dubai Health Experience (DXH) is part of Dubai’s medical tourism strategy, which aims to position Dubai as a global destination for health tourism.
“We have invited doctors specifically to meet with the Dubai hospitals and forge partnerships that will increase options for patients looking for specialized treatment from Africa”, stated Rasha Kayyal, the senior events manager at SEGMA, the organizers of the event.
SEGMA were organizing a similar event in Nigeria at the end of the week. Organizers highlighted Dubai’s attractive location along with the availability of high quality medical professionals and technology as key factors that had enabled the emirate to position itself as a strong and favorable platform to build on health tourism capabilities.
“The healthcare sector is being developed keeping in mind the patient safety, high quality healthcare services and excellent patient experience in the Emirate of Dubai,” said a statement from the organizers.
They cited the presence of large number of internationally accredited and renowned medical institutions, infrastructure and regulations to promote public-private partnerships in healthcare and the ease of obtaining the medical visa as a comprehensive strategic approach to make Dubai a fast growing health tourism destination.
