espite
the rapid growth of the economy, the government must still provide some
of the poorer communities with basic healthcare and education. The advent
of new technologies, such as tele-medicine, is helping to bring new
benefits to the people of the Dominican Republic for the first time.
The private sector is also playing its role. The
INCE Medical Centre (Centro Medico Internacional), for
example, is a state-of-the-art private healthcare clinic that targets
people who would otherwise travel to the US for their treatment. The
centre offers first-class care in most branches of medicine including
heart surgery, oncology, plastic surgery and transplants.
As well as retaining business and money that would otherwise end up
abroad, the centre plays an important role in promoting the overall
development of healthcare in the Dominican Republic. It has pooled the
best medical talent in the country and forged strong links with US healthcare
professionals and institutions. It is also a place where American patients
can receive rehabilitation treatment.
|
||
 |
Dr
Julio Hazim, INCE president and a well-known public figure
with additional business interests in the media, says the problem is
not so much the lack of doctors or talent, but rather the lack of opportunities
and outlets for their skills.
“Nowadays, the Dominican Republic has 5,000 well-trained doctors
working in the US that cannot return to their country because there
is no research here nor a place to earn what they earn overseas,”
he says. “If you promote the means, you can get those human resources
and you can invest in more health centres.”
The Dominican Republic certainly has the know-how. In the free trade
zones, a number of companies are already manufacturing medical equipment
for export to the US. This is an area the government is keen to encourage.
It illustrates how the country can produce the very best given the right
conditions and necessary investment.
Mr Hazim says there is still plenty of investment potential in the healthcare
sector. “If you want to invest in high technology medicine, come
to this country – because tourists and the higher classes now go
to Miami to treat themselves,” he says.
There is scope in other areas, too, he believes, especially those based
around adding value to natural resources such as sugar cane or fruit,
where the country has pioneered the development of organic produce such
as bananas. There are hazards and obstacles but, on balance, the climate
for investment is positive.
[email protected]