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Eight years ago, I moved to the UAE to set up a medical tourism department at a leading private hospital. At the time, the UAE was a country that referred its citizens abroad for treatment and a destination hoping to attract international patients.
It is worth reflecting on how the UAE has evolved from an outbound referral market to one of the leading destinations for medical tourists. Over the past decade, the UAE has begun investing and attracting investment in healthcare, research and medical education, and creating favorable conditions for healthcare professionals to settle in the country.
The shift away from referral sources began long before the pandemic restricted international travel. The Dubai Health Authority reported that the total number of cases treated abroad fell by 74.8% over five years, from 2,913 patients in 2015 to 733 patients in 2019. During the pandemic, major destinations have closed their doors to patients from around the world, changing the outlook for UAE citizens considering treatment abroad.
Factors Contributing to Reduced UAE Patient Outflow Temporary suspension of government-funded overseas treatment programs: With the pandemic, medical tourism has come to a complete halt, with major destinations grappling with a surge in cases while funding agencies focus on protecting their citizens from COVID-19 infection.
Shifting travel preferences post-COVID-19: Appointment waiting lists, entry restrictions and long flights have changed conventional wisdom, unless home visits are not possible.
The ‘globalization’ of healthcare: Prominent global healthcare organizations are partnering with UAE-based providers to offer telemedicine and other healthcare delivery models such as visiting doctor programs to check, operate and follow up closer to home of patients.
Quaternary care services: The inability to provide quaternary care services in the UAE is one of the factors driving patients to travel abroad. Over the past decade, the UAE has built capacity in advanced oncology and multi-organ transplantation through a concerted effort of public and private healthcare investments. The country’s organ donation law passed in 2016 also made this possible, saving more than 400 lives through transplants in the past five years – livers, kidneys, hearts and lungs, pancreas and small intestines.
International travelers have long considered the UAE as a wellness destination (health check-ups, beauty, maternity and dental care). Controlled COVID-19 numbers are prompting people awaiting treatment to consider the UAE as an option. As such, COVID-19 proved to be the catalyst to accelerate the UAE’s vision to become a major medical tourism destination. According to Dubai statistics, the number of medical tourists has increased by 145%, from 270,000 in 2017 to 630,000 in 2021.
Factors Attracting Medical Tourists to the UAE:
World Class Hospitals – The presence of international brands and strong domestic providers with international accreditation, such as JCI, make the UAE an attractive destination. The availability of healthcare services at various prices attracts both luxury and cost-conscious consumers. Healthcare staff in the UAE have worked in some of the best institutions in the world. They represent different schools of thought and practice evidence-based medicine to provide patients with the best treatment options.
Strategic Location: The UAE has the advantage of being within an 8-hour flight of two-thirds of the world’s population. It has good air connections provided by premium and budget airlines. Additionally, the UAE offers convenient visa options such as tourist, visitor and medical tourism visas.
The UAE experience: The UAE’s potential as a medical tourism destination is further supported by the country’s wider tourism ecosystem: three safe megacities, budget to star accommodation options, various modes of transport, and shopping and Sightseeing opportunities.
Two government-backed exclusive medical tourism offices – DXH (Dubai Experience Wellness) and ADMT (Abu Dhabi Medical Tourism) – are tasked with promoting healthcare services in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. They spearhead discussions with governments, insurance companies and other medical tourism stakeholders to encourage inbound medical tourism.
What drives medical tourism?
For some, it’s because of unavailable services, high medical costs, and long wait times in their home country, while for others, it’s simply privacy or the fact that they can afford anything in the world. Consider the US and India example – a patient from the US travels abroad to take advantage of services that are not covered by insurance or cost prohibitively.
On the other hand, there are wealthy Indians flying out of India for reasons of secrecy, and these two destinations attract a lot of international patients. This shows that even if a country has a well-developed healthcare system, a certain number of patients still seek treatment abroad.
The pandemic has brought about a recalibration of the flow of medical tourists, and the UAE has a good opportunity to capitalize on it. Controlling the outflow of medical tourists from the UAE will save foreign exchange and encourage healthcare providers to invest more in innovation, technology and new service areas, leading to further inflow of international patients, adding a lot to the economy.
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