Speaker Lusaka lauded India’s initiative to offer scholarships and training opportunities for Kenyans especially in medicine and pharmacy/CFM
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 1 – Kenya and India on Thursday plegded to deepen and strengthen cooperation in the public health sector and capacity development.
Speaking during a courtesy call on Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka, India High Commissioner to Kenya Suchitra Durai said her country is cognisant of Kenya’s potential in traditional medicine and had forwarded paperwork to relevant ministries.
“We have made some progress in this area. At present we have shared a draft MoU with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and I believe that consultations are on-going with counterpart Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Culture,” the High Commissioner revealed.
About 20,000 visa applications are received by the High Commission annually from Kenyans seeking specialised cancer, health treatment, kidney transplant and surgeries in India.
The two countries last month announced plans of establishing a multi-billion shilling cancer hospital and oncology school that is expected to stem cases of ailing Kenyans travelling to the Asian country for treatment.
Speaker Lusaka lauded India’s initiative to offer scholarships and training opportunities for Kenyans especially in medicine and pharmacy.
“India has enjoyed a lot of medical tourism from the Kenyan people – with focus being on treatment using modern medicine. I however believe that Kenya can learn a lot from India on traditional medicine,” observed the Senate Speaker.
“With our natural occurring forests we would be able to utilise fully the benefits of medicinal herbs for both preventive and curative treatments.”
Other areas of cooperation discussed at the meeting included: tourism, trade and commerce, capacity development of staffers at the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training (BPST), and scholarships for Kenyans to study in India (degree programmes and short courses).
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