Istanbul – Adnan Abdul Razzaq *
Turkey aspires to a larger share of the $500 billion medical tourism market, by overtaking South Korea, which is second only to the United States of America. The country, despite the development it has achieved in this field, has not yet achieved what it deserves, according to Fatih Somongo, head of the Medical Tourism Association in Ankara.
Somongo confirms that the government plan calls for achieving revenues of $ 20 billion from medical tourism by 2023, and that his country has all the factors of leadership and competition in this context. He revealed the start of targeting the citizens of the European continent, against the background of the high rate of aging and the high costs of treatment.
He added that Turkey has succeeded in increasing the number of tourists coming to it for medical purposes from all over the world, especially from the Balkans, the republics of Central Asia, the Middle East and the Arab world, especially with prices that drop by about 60 percent compared to Europe and the United States of America in the field of eye surgeries and cancer diseases. Orthopedic diseases, cosmetology and hair transplantation.
And medical tourism in Turkey is wide-ranging, beyond hospitalization and surgeries, according to what Turkish analyst Khalil Uzun told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. He explains that “our country is rich in nature and springs that increase the chances of reaching the second place in the world in the field of medical tourism, as there are 1500 treatment springs with mineral, sulfur and hot water, and they are third at the level of facilities that depend on mineral water after Italy (300 facilities) and Germany (260 facilities). And that with 240 facilities. And he continues that this “comes in addition to 1200 locally and internationally accredited hospitals throughout Turkey, famous for the fields of orthopedics, hair transplantation and plastic surgery,” noting “what is provided in terms of stays in sanatoriums and resorts scattered in the various eighty-one states of Turkey, with care that depends on the Strict system in the application of medical and technical standards.
For his part, Doctor Muhammad al-Dandal told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, “There are those who wish to benefit from medical care provided by centers and hospitals that are equipped with the latest technologies and equipment specialized in the treatment of chronic and critical diseases, and there are those who aim to benefit from natural resources to obtain treatment and medication. From chronic pain and skin diseases, the concerned person goes to one of the tourist places rich in hot or sulfur mineral water, or to sandy beaches that help treat skin ulcers and eczema.”
Al-Dandal affirms that “the facilities specialized in medical tourism in Turkey have obtained local and international accreditations, such as the accreditation of the Joint Commission International (JCI) and the accreditation of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), pointing out that “Turkey has made important strides in the medical field, such as using technology The robot has distinguished itself in dangerous surgical fields, such as organ transplants, bone marrow transplants, and surgeries related to cancer.”
In this context, the medical advisor, Asya, from one of the plastic surgery centers in Turkey, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed about the “increasing offers and breaking prices during the winter season, especially in the areas of hair transplantation and plastic surgery.”
She added, “These tourists are not only from the Arab Gulf region, but also come from Europe and the Soviet Union because of the lower costs compared to their countries, especially after the introduction of modern technologies. For example, it has become possible to transplant about five thousand hair bulbs at a time, and the matter It is not limited to the head, but also includes mustaches, beards, and eyebrows.
This sector would not have grown, according to more than one expert, and would have been able to compete globally, had it not been for the intervention of the Turkish state, which raised the budget for health care services by 23.6 percent annually and the education budget by 8.6 percent.
According to a recent official report, the combined expenditures on education and health care amounted to 111.8 billion Turkish liras (about 18 billion dollars) in 2018, noting that hospital services received the largest share with 16.5 billion liras (about three billion dollars), while public health services amounted to About nine billion pounds (about 1.5 billion dollars).
* Adnan Abdel Razzaq – journalistic writer for the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed website and newspaper