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Visa quota system in medical tourism
Dubai hospitals are set to be more stringently monitored in a bid to protect medical tourists, as announced by the Emirate’s health body on Sunday.
Under a new medical tourism visa quota system, hospitals will now have to request a ‘treatment visa service quota’ from the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) if they intend to cater to medical tourists.
Such measures have been implemented to ensure hospitals are not over or under utilising their services, it said.
The medical tourism visa policy allows a patient to stay in the country for three months — but it can be renewed two times — meaning a nine month stretch in all.
Sixteen hospitals – all internationally accredited – have been applying for visas for patients and their families since 2008. 12 of the listed hospitals are private, three are DHA run and one is from Dubai Health Care City. A further three hospitals are in the process of acquiring accreditation. Officials say hospitals will now have to ‘work within the allowed quota’.
“The authority will approve this quota and the hospital will be able to apply for only that number of medical tourism visas,” said Laila Al Jassmi, CEO of Health Policy and Strategy at the authority. “This is a one-time requirement and hospitals need to reapply only if they are expanding their capacity,” she said.
Engineer Essa Al Haj Al Maidour, Director-General of the authority said: “Dubai is a leading destination for tourism and leisure and since it offers excellent healthcare facilities, medical tourism is just an extension of the hospitality.”
It is estimated that the emirate will witness an annual growth rate of 7.2 per cent in tourists visiting Dubai until 2015, according to the statistics issued by the World Travel and Tourism Council. The expected number of tourists coming to Dubai by 2015 is 14 million, all of which are potential users of Dubai’s healthcare services.
Major Jasim Ali Rashed Ahli, Director of Entry Permit Department at GDRFA said: “The patient needs to get his or her medical report attested from the UAE consulate in the patient’s residing country and the hospital needs to submit this along with the requisite documents.” Specialised clinics, spas and wellness centres will have to apply for a quota in the second phase of the initiative.
“Medical tourism is a growth engine and can contribute to the GDP of the overall country in due course,” said Dr Ayesha Abdulla, Managing Director of DHCC.
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