MVA’S SPECIALIST CLINIC WILL OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

MBABANE – Government and individuals are spending millions of Emalangeni on specialised medical treatment in South Africa.

This is due to the fact that local health institutions tend to refer some of their patients with complicated illnesses, requiring sophisticated medical technologies, to the neighbouring republic. At some point, government owed South African hospitals over E170 million. In the past, there was a reported case of a patient who incurred a medical bill of E2.4 million through the Ministry of Health’s Phalala Referral Fund.

Notably, there are programmes in place to build a 250-bed public referral hospital, and external loans have been solicited for this project. In the meantime, government reportedly spends a lot of money on patient referrals to South Africa and Mozambique. Can Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accident Fund’s (SMVAF) state-of-the -art clinic come to the rescue? The Times SUNDAY can mention that the Fund’s health institution, christened Ekuphileni Clinic by His Majesty the King, has the essential advanced medical equipment, which could possibly cater for those special medical cases. The available equipment is valued at E52 million. The clinic was ideally or originally established to treat SMVAF claimants.

However, David Myeni, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SMVAF, has some good news for Eswatini as he announces that the clinic is now open to the public. Myeni announced that SMVAF would launch the facility on August 12, 2020. “It’s a fullyfledged facility,” he said. The CEO, in an interview, explained that Ekuphileni would complement the other health institutions as medical practitioners would be allowed to use their facility to treat patients. He mentioned that hospitals, health centres and clinics did not have some of the equipment available at the clinic, saying it was imperative, therefore, for SMVAF to offer a solution. He observed that it was very expensive for government and emaSwati to send patients to South Africa and Mozambique to access health facilities, which Ekuphileni Clinic could easily provide at a cheaper rate.

The SMVAF CEO pointed to the fact that money which could have been remitted to South Africa would be retained for local circulation. He said the Ministry of Health’s Phalala Medical Referral Fund could benefit tremendously from the facility. Myeni said medical practitioners taken on tour of the facility were surprised at seeing state-of-the-art equipment in the country.   

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