Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 5
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
With an accurate and well-thought out program, it may be possible to help bring the revenues from Iran’s health tourism up to $5 billion, Saeid Hashemzadeh, Director of Health Tourism Department of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran, told IRNA, Trend reports.
According to him, it was announced that the world health tourism revenue was $400 billion in 2018, with Iran's share being $1.2 billion.
"Currently, Tehran, Razavi Khorasan, Qom, Khuzestan, West Azerbaijan and Fars provinces have great potential for the development of health tourism," he said.
According to Hashemzadeh, as of lately, the provinces of East Azerbaijan, Ilam, Kordestan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Kermanshah, Ardabil and Gilan have been receiving new patients from neighboring countries.
"If investments are made, these provinces may have a fundamental role in Iran's health tourism," he said.
Stating that one of the problems in the field of health tourism is the presence of intermediaries, Hashemzadeh said that the said intermediaries offer unfounded services and cause many problems.
"With independent companies operating, the work of such intermediaries in the health tourism can be impeded," he said.