Several existing packages are being upgraded to include hotel and wellness options, while many providers adding more benefits for medical tourists.

Top medical tourism fields in Dubai : orthopaedics, aesthetics , dental , preventive health and wellness and fertility treatments.

Dubai receives highest number of medical tourists from: Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries, Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), African countries and from UK.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, January 29, 2014: Dubai healthcare providers  are continuing to roll-out comprehensive healthcare packages for medical tourists, said a top health official.

Dr Layla Al Marzouqi, Acting-Director of DHA Health Regulation Department and Director of Dubai Medical Tourism Project at the DHA, said during DHA's smart clinic that healthcare providers are looking at  ways to make the journey of medical tourists complete with various options such as wellness and spa facilities.

Al Marzouqi, " Several of the existing players that offer medical tourism packages are now looking at ways to further enhance or upgrade their packages by offering a host of features such as travel, accommodation, wellness and spa facilities, chauffeur service, translators and all other services that will help make the stay of patients and their family members more enjoyable and comfortable."

Linda Abdulla, Head of the Medical Tourism Office at the DHA, said " Medical tourism is a natural extension in Dubai because of the high-quality of care that both private and public players offer. The private players are our partners in this initiative and the DHA has a medical tourism club that consist of 30 members from the private healthcare sector in Dubai that meet on a regular basis to discuss several important topics such as medical tourism packages, insurance for medical tourists, rating of medical tourism facilities, transparency and pricing, medical complaints procedure etc."

Abdulla added that presently top medical tourism fields in Dubai are orthopaedics, aesthetics, dental , preventive health, wellness and fertility treatments.

Dubai receives highest number of medical tourists from Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries, Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), African countries and from UK. Medical tourists from the UK mainly visit Dubai for dental procedures and aesthetics.

Al Marzouqi added that there is huge potential in the medical sector in Dubai and that there are 10 hospitals in Dubai that are presently under-construction, which will further add to the number of hospital beds in Dubai. " Some of the hospitals are specialised hospitals which means the doctors will be specialised or even super-specialised. The growth in the medical sector is phenomenal. Over the years, healthcare groups that had clinics are moving towards building hospitals, while those that have hospitals and now moving towards building super-speciality hospitals. Some of the under-construction hospitals are specialised hospitals for cancer, paediatrics etc. All this will further strengthen the quality of healthcare provided in Dubai, which in turn will directly positively impact the medical tourism initiative."

About the Dubai Health Authority:
The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) was created, in June 2007, by Law 13 issued by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, with an expanded vision to include strategic oversight for the complete health sector in Dubai and enhance private sector engagement. His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance is the President of the Dubai Health Authority and His Excellency Engineer Essa Al Maidoor is the Director-General of the DHA.

The DHA's aim in Dubai is to provide an accessible, effective and integrated healthcare system, protect public health and improve the quality of life within the Emirate. This is a direct translation of the objectives of the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015 launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Keeping the strategic plan in mind, the DHA's mission is to ensure access to health services, maintain and improve the quality of these services, improve the health status of nationals, residents and visitors and oversee a dynamic, efficient and innovative health sector.

In addition to overseeing the health sector for the Emirate of Dubai, the DHA also focuses on providing services through DHA healthcare facilities including hospitals (Latifa, Dubai, Rashid and Hatta), specialty centres (e.g. the Dubai Diabetes Center) and DHA primary health centres spread throughout the Emirate of Dubai.

The main pillars of service delivery at DHA health facilities are quality, efficiency, patients and staff.  It is our aim to maintain and improve the quality and efficiency of DHA health services. An important aspect of the service delivery strategy is to focus on patients, their needs and satisfaction as well as attract, retain, nurture and support outstanding staff.

Prior to the establishment of the DHA, the Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS), which was established in 1973, was the functioning authority that almost exclusively focused on health service delivery.

© Press Release 2015