#bhf2019conference: Healthcare as a key driver for economic growth

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“Healthy people work longer and harder. Healthcare sparks innovation. It is an employment engine and medical tourism is a powerful foreign exchange earner,” said Dr Skhumbuzo Ngozwana, president and CEO of Kiara Health, at the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) conference in Cape Town.

“South Africa is at a precipice. Health is the government’s biggest expenditure. It is incumbent on the government to facilitate growth in sector,” he said.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Uneca) estimates that Africa’s health sector represents a massive investment opportunity of $66bn annually, yet the continent imports medicines to the value of $14bn annually.

For instance, clinical trials generated $44bn globally in 2018, but in South Africa this source of income is hampered by delays in approvals. “It can get up to six months for permits to come through,” Ngozwana said.

There are also opportunities in building pharmaceutical infrastructure, particularly as Africa has a large, diverse, largely treatment naïve population, and an education system that makes it resilient to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The European Union considers pharmaceutical manufacturing as the gem of the European industry, so there’s no reason why Africa should benefit , he said.

In addition, the medical devices industry in 2018 contributed 0.3% to gross domestic product, with only 9% produced locally. While medical consumables comprise a $240m market and 90% of these goods are imported.

Medical tourism is another market segment that holds promise. Globally it is a $100bn market, growing at 25% year-on-year. In 2015, 500,000 medical tourism visitors came to South Africa.

“South Africa can benefit from healthcare, considering there is no language barrier and we have the infrastructure,” Ngozwana said.