Egypt sets goals for boosting medical tourism, puts file atop agenda interests

CAIRO - 28 November 2022: Many efforts are being made by the Egyptian state to support medical tourism, as Dr. Mohamed Awad Taj El-Din, Advisor to the President for Health Affairs, confirmed that the file of health tourism is at the forefront interests and priorities of the state in the current period.

 

Dr. Mohamed Awad Taj El-Din added, in a phone call to “From Egypt” program on CBC TV Channel, that Egypt was an outlet for providing medical tourism, and most of the Gulf countries were coming to Egypt, as well as a large number of citizens of Sudan and other Africans come for treatment.

 

He further stressed the importance of having a national institution represented in the Council of Ministers that follows up on the file of medical tourism. In this regard, he commented: "the Prime Minister's step is successful in order to have an entity that follows up the file to remove all obstacles and facilitate access to this service."

 

Walid Al-Batouti, a tourism expert, said that tourists who receive treatment in Egypt express their happiness with the quality of service and care, pointing out that careful operations were performed for the elderly and were very successful, and they confirmed that the cost of the operation and treatment is 1% of what they pay in their country.

 

Walid Al-Batouti added, during a telephone interview on Extra News channel, that Egypt is very advanced in performing dental operations, which is considered a kind of health tourism, indicating that there was a discussion between him and an American tourist group about that Egypt had waiting lists, and today these lists have ended.

 

He pointed out that the health system has improved significantly at the level of the Republic, saying that Egypt is one of the most important countries that treat psoriasis, and that it also has a kind of sand in Siwa and Aswan that is not found anywhere in the world.

 

For her part, Ghada Shalaby, Deputy Minister of Tourism, said that the Prime Minister was speaking at the cabinet's meeting on Monday about health facilities in a number of governorates, and providing treatment and health services to tourists.

 

"We are interested in the health file and providing services to patients and companions, and we are used to that tourism is an important and main source of hard currency, and no institution or sector can succeed alone without coordination with other ministries," she added. 

 

She stressed that there are certain nationalities who used to obtain health services from Egypt, and I expect these nationalities to see the services on the unified platform and know their costs.