EGYPT INCREASINGLY SEEKING MEDICAL TOURISTS FROM AFRICA
Egypt is working to attract more African and Levant travellers to its shores to undergo medical treatment. Egypt was ranked 28th in the world in 2017 for medical tourism and 3rd in the Arabic world.
In a recent conference, Dr Ahmed El-Sobky, President of Egypt’s General Authority for Health Care, and Ambassador Mohamed Khalil, the Secretary-General of the Egyptian Agency for Partnership for Development (EAPD) spoke about how Egypt‘s health sector could be the base to more actively promote medical tourism. Both institutions see a demand from the rest of Africa and Levant countries to visit Egypt for treatment.
Egyptian EAPD supports medical tourism through the initiative “We take care of you in Egypt“. The programme was launched in September 2020 by the General Authority for Health Care. The initiative provides high-quality medical services for tourists within the hospitals of the nation’s comprehensive health insurance system. First results of this programme have translated into increased medical visitors from Libya, Nigeria, Sudan, Yemen and Zambia, and even from the Philippines. Another initiative – the “Tour’n Cure” – targets hepatitis C patients from all over the world to Egypt to have both visits and treatment.
During the conference Dr Abdelaty Elmannaee, CEO of the Egyptian Foundation of Medical and Environmental Tourism, praised the state’s efforts, pointing out that Egypt must intensify its promotion as it competes with Jordan, Turkey, Tunisia and some European countries to lure medical travellers.
“Egypt now has the ingredients that make it a leader in the health tourism industry,” he said. “It has a variety of medical cadres in all specialties and cheaper prices compared to Europe, in addition to its high-standard hospitals,” the CEO explained to local news magazine Al-Monitor.
