According to the interview of Dr. San San Yi, Chairman of Okkar Thiri with Oxford Business Group, the opportunities for investment in Myanmar’s health care sector in terms of public-private partnership are discussed as well as the improvements that have led to more patients being diagnosed and treated locally.
Dr. San San Yi told OBG that the number of private hospitals operating in Myanmar was on course to rise from single digits in the 1980s to 250 by 2020. “Foreign investors are rushing into the medical sector because this is the ‘sunrise’ sector,” she said, “and public-private partnership is the area to explore.”
The comments from Dr San San Yi come against a backdrop of renewed investor interest in Myanmar as the country continues to open up several areas of the economy to the outside world. Dr San San Yi explained that the arrival of key international names in the sector had generated important upgrades in the country’s private hospitals, with high-quality equipment, such as linear accelerators, now installed in Yangon and elsewhere in Myanmar. “The number of people who are going abroad to be treated or to get a diagnosis is becoming less and less every year because the facilities are improving in this country,” she said. Against this backdrop, doctors are returning from abroad, Dr San San Yi noted, which should help to reduce waiting times.
OBG remarks during an interview that “Dr. San San Yi highlights the need for more private hospitals and medical staff, while also reminding viewers of the country’s plans to launch a health insurance system for its citizens. Her observations will undoubtedly be of interest to investors eyeing the many opportunities in Myanmar’s health care sector.”
