African Leaders Blasted for Medical Tourism

• African Leaders Blasted for Medical Tourism

A South African minister has criticised African leaders who seek medical treatment abroad.

Aaron Motsoaledi condemned “health tourism” while speaking in Zimbabwe.

According to the BBC, President Robert Mugabe, who frequently receives treatment in Singapore, had left the meeting of health ministers when Dr. Motsoaledi made the comments.

Mugabe’s spokesman has said that the president’s doctor “is not only Zimbabwean, he is actually black… He is very, very, very black”.

George Charamba made those comments to Zimbabwe’s state-run Herald newspaper in May, insisting that Mugabe was not turning his back on Zimbabwean medical help.

Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari and Angola’s José Eduardo dos Santos have also been criticised for seeking medical treatment abroad this year.

At this week’s conference Dr Motsoaledi said: “We are the only continent that has its leaders seeking medical services outside the continent, outside our territory. We must be ashamed of that.”
“This is called health tourism. We must promote our own,” he added.

Dr. Motsoaledi also urged governments to increase funding to local facilities.

He has been praised by South Africans for using public hospitals instead of private facilities.

Indeed, his comment was the elephant in the room as over 30 of Africa’s health ministers met to discuss strategies to tackle the continent’s public health problems.

The list of African heads of state who have recently sought medical treatment abroad includes Buhari, Eduardo dos Santos, Mugabe, Benin’s President Patrice Talon and 80-year-old Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

When Dr. Motsoaledi made the comments in a plenary session, his remarks were met with silence from the other member states represented.

Dr. Motsoaledi admitted his position was a controversial one, but added that it needed to be said.