Why External Accreditation is key to Strengthening Trust in African Healthcare

By, Rashid Khalani, CEO, Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi

Hundreds of thousands of Africans still travel abroad for medical treatment every year. Many do so not because expertise is lacking on the continent, but because they believe high-quality care is not available at home. This belief carries a heavy emotional and economic cost — for families, for health systems, and for Africa’s development.

Public and private players in the continent must do more to provide quality care but also to build the trust in the African healthcare system. One way of building this trust, is external accreditation of the hospitals in the continent.

Accreditation is a system-level promise to patients: you can trust the care you receive here is the benchmarked amongst the best in the world and you don’t have to travels thousands of miles away to get it.

Last month, our hospital received its fifth accreditation from the Joint Commission International (JCI), the gold standard institution in healthcare standards. When we first attained this milestone in 2013 — becoming the first hospital in East Africa to be accredited — it was not because patients asked for it, regulators required it, or insurers demanded it. They did not. We pursued accreditation because it was the right thing to do for our patients and for the health system we serve. But why do it? one may ask.

Why Accreditation Matters

Choosing external accreditation is choosing accountability. It means opening every part of the hospital — leadership, clinical quality, safety systems, infection control, training, and governance — to rigorous independent evaluation.

In the case of JCI, this means meeting 261 standards and nearly 1,200 measurable elements. It is a demanding, sometimes an uncomfortable process that demands the willingness to confront gaps openly. It is also costly, time-consuming, and intensive.

But this difficulty is precisely what gives accreditation its value — not only for AKUH,N but for any hospital on the continent striving to strengthen the trust of its patients and communities.

But what does this mean for the patients, you may ask….

At its core, accreditation is about people. Every patient who walks through the doors of a hospital places their hope in that institution during their most vulnerable moments. For them, accreditation means:
care is consistent and evidence-based
safety is built into every process
medication and infection risks are tightly controlled treatment decisions are reviewed and standardised.

It reassures families that quality is not dependent on individual effort alone — it is embedded in the hospital’s systems. By working with an external partner, we are opening ourselves to external scrutiny that we are delivering on this.

What It Means for Healthcare Workers and stakeholders

For staff, accreditation provides structure and clarity. It gives nurses, physicians, pharmacists, technologists, and support teams a shared framework for excellence. It builds teamwork because everyone understands their role in upholding safety and quality. And it validates their expertise by confirming that the care they deliver meets global expectations.

Most importantly, it creates a culture where improvement is a daily habit, not an occasional exercise.

Healthcare systems rely on trust — trust that resources are used responsibly, outcomes are measured, and patient safety is prioritised. External accreditation strengthens this trust by demonstrating robust systems, strong governance, reliable documentation and predictable standards of care.

For governments and insurers, this offers confidence in referral pathways, clinical decisions, and long-term investments in local care.

A Pathway to Keeping Care Within the Continent

The more African hospitals that pursue accreditation — JCI, College of American Pathologists, ISO, or others — the more patients will choose to stay within the continent for treatment. This is not about competition between hospitals; it is about raising the standard of care for all.

Africa has the expertise. What we must strengthen is the confidence.

Accreditation is one way to demonstrate this, clearly and transparently.

A Shared Responsibility

As a teaching hospital, accreditation is not only about delivering the best care to our patients — it is about shaping the future of healthcare. The doctors, nurses, and specialists we train are inducted into internationally benchmarked quality and safety standards. They carry these practices with them into the public and private hospitals where they eventually work, multiplying the impact far beyond our walls.

Our hope is that our accreditation journey inspires more hospitals across the continent to pursue similar pathways — not because it is easy or required, but because it ultimately benefits the people we all serve.

When African hospitals commit to global standards, we collectively reshape the narrative of healthcare on the continent. We build trust. We retain talent. We reduce the need for costly medical travel.