eBusiness Weekly
Business Writer
Sunway City, a subsidiary of the Industrial Development Corporation, is proposing to set up a world-class medical park to offer specialist medical services on the back of a rising number of regional patients seeking medication abroad.
According to IDCZ—a wholly state-owned entity, studies have shown that a number of Zimbabweans and patients from the SADC region were seeking services such as oncology and diagnostic treatment as far as India, East Asia and East Africa.
“About 10 hectares of land has been set aside within the High Tech Park for the medical park which will offer the following world-class specialist medical services, among others; oncology, radiotherapy, urology, nephrology, orthopedics and rehabilitation, ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat), ophthalmology and acute stroke treatment,” according to a statement on IDC’s official website seen by this publication.
Most of Africa’s public health systems are in a depressing condition. Preventable diseases still kill a large number of women and children, people travel long distances to receive health care, and across the continent, patients sleep on hospital floors.
Africa’s health professionals emigrate in droves to search for greener pastures. In 2016, Africans spent over US$6 billion on outbound treatment. Nigeria is a major contributor.
Its citizens spend over US$$1 billion annually on what’s become known as medical tourism, according to reports. Meanwhile, Sunway has set aside 100 ha of land for the establishment of a solar park mainly to service companies already operating in the Special Economic Zone, with excess power to be fed onto the national grid.
Sunway will provide land as its capital in the project. The solar park will also serve as a buffer between Sunway City and Epworth residential areas.
