Health tourism to generate Dh6.1b

A unified medical tourism initiative that will tap the full potential of Dubai’s healthcare sector is being developed for the emirate, officials announced on Wednesday. “With over 4,750 doctors/physicians speaking 40 languages, Dubai has the best tourism infrastructure in the world. Tourism numbers are growing over 10 per cent year on year,” said officials during a meeting with private sector organisations, Dubai Healthcare City Authority and Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing. They also said that health tourism in the city is expected to generate Dh6.1 billion by the end of 2012.  Dubai’s private sector investment in the healthcare sector has also surged by 12 per cent to $8 billion in 2010-11. Qadhi Saeed Al Murooshid, Director-General of DHA said: “We will work with the private sector and key relevant government departments, airlines and tourism companies to ensure we develop successful medical tourism initiatives for Dubai.” “The emirate offers internationally accredited state-of-the-art healthcare facilities, has highly qualified healthcare professionals and an efficient regulatory system that ensures safe and quality healthcare as well as promotes investment in health sector,” he added. Laila Al Jassmi, CEO of Health Policy and Strategy Sector said: “There are several factors which make Dubai a destination of choice for medical tourism. Dubai has visitors from across the globe coming here for business, exhibitions and conferences, shopping and entertainment or on their annual family holiday.” She said Dubai was well poised to address the healthcare needs of this market as it satisfies the key criteria for healthcare.  “This includes a large number of highly qualified medical professionals, strong private sector health infrastructure, ease of access and the added advantage of multi-lingual skills given Dubai’s diversity,” she explained. “Dubai has the highest hotel occupancy in the world with the highest Rev-Par. We believe we also have the clinical expertise for certain services that can be further marketed to tourists in Dubai.” In terms of the medical services, Al Jassmi said, “Dubai has a number of leading world class health facilities that are well-equipped for medical tourism. Services could range from cardiac surgeries such as open heart surgeries and catherisation procedures, minimally invasive cardiac procedures for children with congenital heart defects, knee replacement surgeries, reconstructive surgeries for injuries and burns, LASIK procedures as well as aesthetic, cosmetic and dental procedures along with wellness packages and alternative medicine.” She added that Dubai has internationally accredited hospitals and several renowned specialty centres such the Thalassemia Centre, The Dubai Cord Blood and Research Centre, Dubai Gynecology and Fertility Centre, Dubai Genetics Centre while the private hospitals and clinics have various centres of excellence for a number of specialties which are already catering to medical tourists. “Over the next years, the authority expects to see a rise in the number of patients from GCC countries, Middle East North Africa region (MENA), South Asia, Western Europe, Baltic States, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries and parts of Africa,” said Al Jassmi. “In 2011, Dubai welcomed more than 9.3 million hotel guests and tourist arrivals are only expected to grow,” she added.