King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London, UK has today (Tuesday, 29 July) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).
The MOU between King’s and Afreximbank is designed to enhance the health and well-being of people in Africa by improving healthcare infrastructure on the continent.
King’s is a centre of excellence for the treatment of blood cancers and haematological medicine, and the initial focus will be on developing a like-for-like facility in West Africa.
Longer-term, King’s and Afreximbank will look at other opportunities in Africa to improve healthcare infrastructure. This will involve studying the healthcare needs of different populations in Africa, and how these can be addressed.
Afreximbank’s collaboration with King’s is part of its Health and Medical Tourism Development Programme, which is supporting the development of world-class health facilities in Africa to meet the growing health care needs of Africans with a view to enhancing service exports, promoting employment and conserving Africa’s foreign exchange.
“At King’s, we are proud to have an international reputation for high quality, specialist clinical services” said Professor Ghulam Mufti, Professor of Haemato-oncology at King’s and a Non-Executive Director at the Trust. “Our work with Afreximbank is an important step forward for King’s, and part of a wider initiative to expand our work overseas for the benefit of patients.”
“Today’s signing marks a crucial first step in bringing first class health services closer to people across Africa,” added Jean-Louis Ekra, President of Afreximbank. “We are confident that this collaboration will lead to a significant reduction in the need for Africans to travel outside the continent in search of the highest quality healthcare and will greatly reduce the resources expended by Africans on foreign medical tourism.”
King’s College Hospital is one of the Europe’s leading hospitals, treating over one million patients every year. King’s has a unique portfolio of local and specialist services, including haematological medicine, liver disease, neurosurgery, cardiovascular disease and fetal medicine.
The African Export-Import Bank is the foremost Pan-African multilateral institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade. Established in 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors, Afreximbank is headquartered in Cairo. Since 1994, the Bank has approved almost $30 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $3.5 billion in 2013.
-Ends-
Notes to editors
-
For further information contact:
King’s: Chris Rolfe, Corporate Communications,
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Tel: 020 3299 3006; e-mail: chris.rolfe@nhs.net
www.kch.nhs.ukAfreximbank:
Obi O. Emekekwue, Senior Manager, External Communications, Afreximbank
Tel: + (202) 2456-4238
email: oemekekwue@afreximbank.com
www.afreximbank.com -
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching hospitals, training over 900 dentists, 750 doctors and 300 nurses every year. The Trust is recognized internationally for its work in liver disease and transplantation, neurosciences, cardiac, haemato-oncology, stroke and major trauma. On 1 October 2013, King’s took over the running of the Princess Royal University Hospital in Bromley and Orpington Hospital, as well as some services at Beckenham Beacon and Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup. The new enlarged organisation has over 10,500 staff and provides over 1 million patient contacts a year. 9,000 babies are delivered by our hospitals each year, and over 750 patients come to our Emergency Departments every day. For more information, please visit the website – www.kch.nhs.uk.
-
The African Export-Import Bank is the foremost Pan-African multilateral institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade. Established in 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors, Afreximbank is headquartered in Cairo. Since 1994, the Bank has approved almost $30 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $3.5 billion in 2013. For more information, please visit the website – www.afreximbank.com