Ahmedabad:
Gujaratis in Zambia and other African countries are proving to be the unofficial PR agents for medical tourism in the state. Take the case of Zambian President Michael Sata who has been admitted to Samved Hospital for treatment.
Sources in the know said that it was an NRG doctor who had helped the medical team attending on the president zero in on the doctor and the particular hospital in Gujarat where he could be.
Sata was in the city for a urology procedure. “The president’s team had considered hospitals in the UK and the US apart from those in the big cities of India like Mumbai and Delhi. But eventually they zeroed in on a doctor and a hospital in Ahmedabad,” said a source.
The source further said that a Gujarati physician had helped the president’s team zero in on Dr Janak Desai. The good word that Gujaratis in Zambia put in about the private healthcare system in Gujarat also helped.
The source further said that, in this particular case, Gujarat was not chosen for its affordability. The cost of treatment was never a consideration as the president could have afforded to get himself treated anywhere in the world, the source said.
“It was the favourable reports from Gujaratis in Zambia about the doctor and the private health care system in Gujarat that helped the president’s team take the decision. The Gujarati physician’s input also helped,” said the source.
When contacted, Dr Janak Desai, chief urologist at Samved Hospital, refused to comment on either Sata’s ailments or why the president had chosen to come to Gujarat.
“It is against medical ethics for a doctor to reveal the health details of a patient,” said Dr Desai.
A source further said that, initially, Dr Desai and his team were to operate on the president in Zambia but later the premier’s team decided that he should get the procedure done here.
source: http://www.DailyBhaskar.com / Home> Gujarat> Ahmedabad / by Smitha R., DNA / Monday, April 09th, 2012
