Medical Director at Africa Medical Information Centre (AMIC), Dr. Akshay Rath, is confident that the presence of his outfit in Ghana and the continent at large will boost access to higher training, higher quality patient care and modern medical facilities.
Its Accra Centre, inaugurated at the beginning of this year, is the first of its kind – providing medical information and resources for African healthcare professionals, researchers and students. It helps healthcare practitioners make evidence-based decisions and improve the quality of care they provide to patients.
“We do this by providing world-class technology and the world’s best surgeons,” he said, adding that the Centre will also embark on Continuous Medical Education (CME) to equip local doctors and health practitioners.
Dr. Rath explained to the B&FT that the ultimate aim is to make African health facilities a hub for advanced surgeries, thereby limiting the cost of travel for patients and the stress that comes with travelling abroad for healthcare.
Additionally, the Centre will create a global library and directory of medical professionals and organisations, a forum for healthcare practitioners, and a research and development hub for healthcare professionals.
To champion this course, Dr. Rath disclosed that AMIC has partnered with Aster – an Indian corporate hospital group with presence in seven countries and about 777 healthcare facilities with top medical professionals – in addition to ongoing plans to partner with other corporate chains.
Improving access to information in rural areas
In the case of Ghana, where long-standing challenges in the system continue to exist – most notably the lack of hospitals and larger medical centres outside big cities as well as inadequate medical infrastructure and technology for advanced diagnosis and surgeries – he said the Centre will improve access to information and resources, even in hard-to-reach areas.
By providing reliable and comprehensive health information, AMIC aims at improving the quality of health care and outcomes for the Ghanaian and African populations by improving and facilitating access to free, accurate, up-to-date medical data, information and resources, scientific and medical knowledge as well as tools for evidence-based decision-making.
AMIC will likewise provide a variety of services including health education and awareness, health information resources and medical assistance for those in need.
For his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Aster Hospitals Bangalore, Dr. Nitish Shetty, pledged his outfit’s support for the initiative; stressing that any country aspiring for quality healthcare must pay attention to the three aspects of healthcare – primary, secondary and tertiary care.
“We at Aster are trying to address all these three spaces, especially leveraging technology. Primary care is the most important of all, and we will focus on that. We want to bring the best healthcare to African countries, and we are starting in Ghana because the country is proactive and strategically positioned,” he said.
