Jordan Times
Monday, September 8, 2008
Jordan tops region as medical
tourism hub
By Hani Hazaimeh
AMMAN - A study prepared by the Private Hospital Association (PHA) indicated
that over 250,000 patients from around 84 Arab and foreign countries were
treated in Jordanian private hospitals, clinics and medical centres last year,
PHA President Fawzi Hammouri said on Sunday.
Hammouri, who is also the director of the Specialty Hospital, said yesterday
that the World Bank (WB) medical tourism experts ranked Jordan number one in the
Arab region and the fifth in the world as a medical tourism hub.
“Jordan is the only country in the Middle East that generates more income than
what it spends on health,” Hammouri said, adding that medical tourism revenues
in 2007 exceeded $1 billion.
He noted that the WB estimates suggest that within the next five years medical
tourism expenditures will amount to $100 billion, rising from $45 billion in
2007. The sector has seen a steady increase of around 10 per cent annually in
the number of foreign patients since 2004, Hammouri told The Jordan Times in an
interview.
According to the study, which was prepared upon a request by the Health
Ministry, the number of Iraqi patients treated by the local private medical
sector amounted to 45,000 in 2007, with Palestinians and Sudanese coming second
with around 25,000 patients from each country.
The study also showed that more than 1,800 US citizens, 1,200 UK citizens and
400 Canadian citizens sought medical treatment in the Kingdom last year.
The PHA president said there are currently 58 private hospitals in the Kingdom,
of which 44 are members in the PHA. He said the PHA is involved in major health
decisions in the country and has a representative on the three most important
medical councils, the Higher Health Council, the Jordan Medical Council and the
Jordan Nursing Council.
Furthermore, Hammouri said that a delegation representing the private medical
sector in addition to a representative from the Jordanian Investment Board will
head to the US to participate in an international conference on medical tourism
in which around 1,000 participants from 50 countries are taking part.
"We hope that this event will open scopes of cooperation with US parties
concerned with medical insurance and medical tourism," Hammouri said, adding
that a recent study by the US-based Deloitte Organisation revealed that around
500,000 US citizens travel abroad for healthcare and expected the figure to
double by 2012.
He said the Jordanian delegation will submit working papers highlighting facts
on the Kingdom's medical tourism sector. He noted that treatment expenditures in
Jordan are only 25 per cent of the cost in the US, including airline tickets and
the patient's stay in addition to site-seeing tours.