By Rohani Mohd Ibrahim
KUALA LUMPUR: Medical tourism is slated to take centre stage at the upcoming Russia-Islamic World KazanForum 2024, a pivotal platform fostering business collaboration between Russia and Islamic nations. Scheduled from May 14 to 19 in Kazan, Tatarstan, this forum serves as a nexus for international discourse.
According to the KazanForum secretariat, international industry experts will discuss the development of medical tourism in Russia and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries. Additionally, the forum will explore new opportunities for patients from the Islamic World and the provision of medical halal services.
“Medical tourism is noticeably developing in Russia. If in 2017, 300,000 foreigners received treatment in Russia, in 2022 the figure is more than 1.2 million. A significant part of patients are from the OIC countries,” the secretariat said in a statement.
According to the statement, experts believe that the increase in the number of patients is due to the work in Russia for the federal project ‘Development of exports of medical services’ from 2019.
“Halal medical tourism has already appeared and is developing in the country (Russia). This is usually an optional package for Muslim tourists seeking treatment during a religious tour,” it added.
Russia’s Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said ophthalmology is the most demanded by foreign patients in Russia, including those from Arab countries.
The statement added that during KazanForum in 2023, it was announced that the top five OIC countries, whose citizens show the greatest interest in medical services in Russia include Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
The most popular destinations and profiles among medical tourists are medical treatment, transplantation, dentistry, oncology, ophthalmology, neurosurgery, and surgery, including cardiovascular surgery, otorhinolaryngology, obstetrics and gynaecology, urology, traumatology, and orthopaedics, it said.
The statement said anyone can improve his or her health in Russia in sanatoria certified according to halal standards.
It added that the Republic of Tatarstan has a regional programme ‘Halal Tourism’ with voluntary certification of sanatoriums to receive guests from Islamic countries.
Meanwhile, at the federal level, the Roskachestvo ‘Halal’ can evaluate and certify sanatoria across the country.
The Roskachestvo-Halal certificate is valid on the territory of the Persian Gulf countries, several OIC states, and countries of the Customs Union.
Among the advantages that patients who come to Russia can enjoy include well-developed high-tech medical care, high-quality standards, availability of top-category doctors with international experience and qualified general medical staff.
Other advantages for patients that come to Russia are the affordable cost of medical services and related expenses such as accommodation, food and transport; personalisation in treatment and the possibility of rehabilitation treatment, as well as territorial proximity for several OIC states which border Russia. – BERNAMA
