Residents spend Dh7.2b on treatment abroad: report

July 14, 2010

Dubai: Medical tourism in the UAE is yet to take off because of stiff competition from South East Asian countries and also because residents themselves travel abroad for treatment.

A CEO of a medical group recently remarked to Gulf News that Dubai faces stiff competition from countries such as Thailand, India and Malaysia where treatment is offered cheaper than here.

According to a report by Mckinsey, a magazine of a US group of companies, 92,000 patients from the UAE travelled to the Philippines last year for treatment. Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce figures show that UAE residents spend around Dh7.2 billion on medical treatment abroad.

This is despite the set- up of a free zone in Dubai, the Dubai Health Care City (DHCC), which is home to 900 clinics and hundreds of professionals.

The UAE Ministry of Health does not have figures of how many people from the UAE go abroad for treatment, but last year it sponsored about 400 Emiratis for treatment overseas. They were sent to hospitals in Germany, UK and Thailand.

Survey

A survey done among residents in the UAE shows that a majority of Asians prefer to seek medical treatment back in their home countries, citing the high cost here and lack of confidence in the health care system.

Emiratis, on the other hand, prefer to go to Thailand for treatment.

The Federal National Council recently grilled Dr Hanif Hassan, Minister of Health, on why there is such a lack of trust in the local health care system. It called for swift wide-ranging reforms in the healthcare system.

In this scenario, a large Chinese medical group plans to tap the market in the UAE and will set up a clinic offering traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine.

A representative of the Boai Group said 70,000 people from the Gulf Cooperation Council travel every year for treatment abroad.

"They know nothing about China, that is why they travel to Thailand or Malaysia," said Nan Lau, overseas manager of the Group.

According to consultancy firm Booz and Co, on an average 9,000 patients are sent every year abroad for treatment from the GCC states. Figures also show that on average a Gulf patient spends about Dh360,000 on medical treatment, including travel costs.

Pitching China as a cheaper destination, Lau said treatment in China would cost a quarter of what it would cost in Dubai, or two-thirds of the cost in Thailand.

Cancer patients

The highest number of patients that come to one of the Boai group's hospitals in China are cancer patients, said professor Calos Che, a cancer specialist. He said every year 1.2 million people are diagnosed with lung cancer.

Breast cancer figures worldwide are growing, he said, saying that every year 1.4 million get breast cancer.

He said the Boai hospitals offer Chinese traditional treatment along with western mode of treatment and has achieved a 70 per cent rate of success.