By ‘Mamohaila Rampo
MASERU
In a bid to continue health services improvement, the Ministry of Health (MoH) revised its partnership with India’s Apollo hospital on Tuesday.
The duo has signed another Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which will see improvement of health services in tertiary and referral hospitals in the country.
Initially, Apollo hospital was a destination for the referral of cancer and kidney failure patients to go for chemo and radiotherapy as well as kidney transplant.
The tertiary hospital is Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH), which the government of Lesotho has full ownership of while the two referral hospitals that will benefit from the MoU are Motebang Hospital and Mafeteng Hospital.
According to the Health Director General (DG) Dr. Nyane Letsie, they have an opportunity to make QMMH fully functional with the highest causalities that could be afforded to any nation. She explained that this MoU will also see most of the health services provided in the country. These include capacity building of local staff and specialists’ services.
Letsie said it is not only the clinical management that will be improved but also the overall management like Human Resources (HR), to make sure that the hospital sets and meets international standards and better services to patients.
“Now there is going to be a whole range of services to be provided, including cardiology,” said the DG
Meanwhile, the Minister of Health Hon. Semano Sekatle thanked the Government of India and the Government of Lesotho for allowing them to revisit and review their agreement and also for letting it be extended by five years. Sekatle said he does not doubt in his mind that this agreement will improve the health services in Lesotho.
He said the first MoU had to be reviewed because there had been several complications that included logistical problems, issues with the transportation of patients from Lesotho to India, accommodation and administrative frequent delays in payment for services.
The Minister clarified that this agreement is not “selling” QMMH. He insisted that the hospital will remain in the hands of the government of Lesotho, however noting that they will employ specialists from India who will assist with advanced service delivery.
For his part, Apollo Hospital Corporate Development Vice President Dr. Harinder Singh Sidhu said they are delighted to be signing the second MoU, which is also for the twinning of Apollo Hospital with QMMH. “We are bringing clinical expertise and specialists. Very importantly, we will empower the hospital, and we are committed to sharing our expertise in hospital management,” he confirmed.
