Dubai, Nov 22: Currently ranked 16th most preferred destination for medical tourism United Arab Emirates has the potential to be in top five, according to an expert. Renee Marie Stephano, the President of Medical Tourism Association, USA, said there may be new demand trends for treatments and destinations in medical travel.
Speaking at the first international medical tourism conference organized by Thumbay Hospital, which is expected to be inaugurated in a month as a part of Thumbay Group and GMC Hospital, in Dubai on Friday, she said there are untapped niche target market opportunities within medical tourism.
The theme of the conference was Initiatives and Updates on International Medical Tourism in UAE'. The event was attended by over 150 delegates including medical tourism experts, doctors, facilitators and insurance agencies.
Thumbay Moideen, the Founder President of Thumbay Group, was the Chief Guest on the occasion. He presented special awards of honour and recognition to Renee Marie Stephano, Dr Uma Nambiar, Advisor to Ministry of Health Djibouti, Dr Ajmal Habeeb, Managing Director, Unity Hospital, India, Dr. Ibrahim Abu Gharbieh, MD Salamatek Healthcare Management UAE and Dr Benazir Ameer Ali, Director, International Medical and Health Tourism Department, Thumbay Hospital for their valuable contributions to medical tourism. Akbar Moideen Thumbay, Director, Operations Healthcare Division and Dr Manvir Singh Walia, Administrative Director Healthcare Division of Thumbay Group were present on the occasion.
Citing exhaustively from the findings of a survey conducted by MTA, Ms Renee said, nearly 80% of demand for medical travel is driven by cost savings, cosmetic surgery leads all other treatments, representing 38% of demand, about 92% of total spending on medical travel per patient is less than $30,000, medical tourists spend between $7,475 and $15,833 per medical travel trip, for six million patients, medical travel may contribute $45 - $95 billion to global GDP, Latin America and Asia are the two leading regions for medical travel, Mexico and India respectively have the highest demand for medical tourism and almost 76% of patients with a future interest in medical travel are American.
She recommended that collaboration with stakeholders to conduct annual global market research and to institute policies to expand various markets within medical tourism industry. Collaborate to develop healthcare hubs as a part of regional economic integration she concluded.
Medical tourism facilitators' act as the focal point of the process by linking overseas patients to medical providers and looking into their travel, transportation and tourism needs said Mr. Ibrahim Abu Gharbieh. Dr. Uma Nambiar spoke about the changing dynamics medical tourism and how do we adapt.
According to Dr Benazir Ameer Ali Medical Tourism is now perceived as one of the fastest growing segment in healthcare.The recent trend is for patients to travel from developed countries to third world countries for medical treatment because of cost consideration, waiting time, privacy/confidentiality, though the traditional pattern still continues. Technology will lead the way in future Medical Tourism. Along with that we can expect extremely personalized services, niche specialist centers, wider network of partnerships, increased number of accreditations, certifications and industry specific associations said Dr Benazir.
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