By Eleanor Gee

Tongans with illnesses that can’t be treated in the kingdom are promised high quality care and treatment in India with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)  between Apollo Hospitals and the Ministry of Health.

Dr Harinder Sidhu, Vice President of Apollo Hospitals signed the agreement with Ministry of Health CEO, Dr Siale ‘Akauola, yesterday, 9 April, in Tofoa.

Dr Akauola welcomed the partnership which he said gives sick Tongans the chance to be referred to quality doctors at Apollo Hospitals in India at a much more affordable cost. The cost of being treated in India, is roughly a third of what it costs for the same treatment in New Zealand and Australia.

“I had no doubt about the quality of doctors coming out from India. Of course, if you go to New Zealand and Australia, you will find that most of their senior doctors are from India,” he said.

Dr Sidhu, who was accompanied by an executive and three doctors from India, said Tonga and Apollo Hospitals have achieved this milestone together and are just seeing the first few fruits of this partnership.

“It gives all of us the pleasure and confidence that we’ll be able to do a lot more for you. And the commitment from Apollo is not only the people and patients coming to India, but we are also looking at and discussing how we can actually help with more training opportunities.”

Since December 2018, 12 Tongan patients have received treatment in India in oncology, radiation, and chemotherapy, and some are currently undergoing treatment. Dr Akauola said they received great feedback from the treated patients who were extrememly happy with the care they received in India.

Over the last few days, the Indian doctors have been at Vaiola Hospital assessing the patients they treated in India as well as patients that are likely to go over for treatment.

Non-communicable diseases

Dr Sidhu said the rise of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and heart diseases, also known as lifestyle diseases, seem to be the common cause of illness in Tongans and it’s no different to what they are seeing in India. He offered tips on how people could keep these diseases at bay. 

"The first thing is to take ownership of your health, eat healthy, only what your body needs, not for the taste of it, exercise regularly, and very importantly come to the doctors regularly.”  

He said that at the first instance of a problem or symptom, see a doctor at the nearest medical centre.

"That will help with early detection which will help you get better treatment, good diagnosis and better outcome at a lesser cost."

Apollo is a huge health organization incorporating 10,000 beds across 70 hospitals. It also has 2556 pharmacies, over 172 primary care and diagnostic clinics, 148 telemedicine units across 13 countries, health insurance services, global projects consultancy, 15 academic institutions and a Research Foundation with a focus on global clinical trials, epidemiological studies, stem-cell and genetic research.