Foreign companies will only be allowed to invest in private hospitals and clinics on a 70:30 ratio with local partners, according to the Deputy Health Minister.
Deputy Health Minister Dr Thein Thein Htay made the remark in response to a question raised by MP Dr Aung Than on the government’s agenda for private health services during a parliamentary session on August 19.
“These businesses will allow better job opportunities for doctors, nurses, and skilled workers,” said Dr Thein Thein Htay.
“Government and private healthcare sector are working in different sectors including disease prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation so it will continue to remain crucial after the emergence of private hospitals and clinics that operate with foreign investment,” she added.
Currently, most doctors, nurses and skilled workers in private hospitals come from public hospitals so the private hospitals have been facing difficulties in providing necessary healthcare when it is needed. Private hospitals have now been recruiting doctors and specialists who can serve full time to solve this problem.
The Ministry of Health has invested 73.26 billion Kyat which it received as reserve budget to buy medicine and equipment to provide free healthcare to emergency patients, pregnant women and children under the age of five in public hospitals.
Source: Eleven Media
