A model of good health
By Lanre Akinola | Published: 08 April, 2009
While half of sub-Saharan Africa has no access to modern healthcare facilities, debate still rages over which system is best, private or public. Lanre Akinola reports.
One of the most high-profile challenges facing sub-Saharan Africa today is the question of who has access to healthcare and on what terms. It is estimated that more than 50 percent of the region’s population does not have access to modern healthcare facilities. While the objective of universal coverage is widely supported, opinion is polarised on exactly how this is to be achieved. A nascent market for high-end private healthcare among Africa’s growing middle classes and calls by some for a new paradigm in the financing of healthcare on the continent have stirred up renewed debate about public versus private provision of healthcare.
One example of the private market, the newly opened Dar Es Salaam Trauma Centre, is located in the affluent Peninsula district of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Owned by UK-based African Medical Investments plc, it is managed through its subsidiary VIP Healthcare and, according to AMI chief executive Dr Vivek Solanki, it is the first centre in East Africa to offer such a wide range and high level of health services under one roof.
Equipped with the latest technology, the 30-bed hospital’s facilities include a full trauma and emergency department, a major and minor operating theatre, two delivery rooms, a radiology department with CT scanner, digital X-ray and 3D ultrasound, as well as a women’s clinic.
The centre caters to the city’s large expatriate and non-governmental organisation community, as well as upper and middle-class Tanzanians and government officials. Mr Solanki attributes the emergence of hospitals like the Dar Es Salaam Trauma Centre to the growing demands of a more confident and affluent segment of African society, and sees this as a sign of a deeper trend. “Twenty years ago it would not have been possible to do this, because that segment did not exist. With education and growing economies comes awareness, and people want to lead healthier lifestyles. It is a natural progression,” he says.
AMI is already building another centre in Maputo, Mozambique. In the next three to five years, the company plans to build 10 more such centres across the continent, with Algiers, Accra, Nairobi and Alexandria on the list of possible locations.
“Just on the back of an increase in the volume of the middle classes, there is definitely a viable market for anyone who is in the healthcare space,” says Tiwonge Mkandawire, healthcare analyst at international consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. “People can now actually pay for it and, better yet, they are demanding it because they recognise it as a right they can finally afford.”
A specialist consultation at the hospital costs $100, with membership payable monthly at $40 plus an extra $10 per month per additional family member. Mr Solanki expects to break even within three months on the $3m that it cost to build the Dar Es Salaam site. The targeted annual net return for each of the company’s planned clinics is between $2.5-$3m, with a targeted annual group return of between $25-$35m.
