The 10th edition of World Health Tourism Congress, being held under the patronage of Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce (DTCM), gets underway in Dubai tomorrow.
 
The event will be held at the Mohammed bin Rashid Academic Medical Centre in Dubai Health Care City (DHCC), said the organiser Grand Aurum Marketing.

The Congress will be attended by ministers, government officials, medical and health experts and key decision-makers of the health tourism industry stakeholders from 80 countries from Africa, Asia and Europe.

Among the countries participating in the two-day annual event are Italy, Switzerland, India, Thailand, Czech Republic, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Lebanon and Egypt, it stated.

The even is being supported by the Arab Tourism Organization and executive office of the Council of GCC Health Ministers with Dubai Health Care City (DHCC) as leading sponsor.

The congress is being held in Dubai for the second consecutive year.

A Dubai Declaration for the “Medical Tourism Development” in the region will be issued on the concluding day of the congress, outlining the foundation for co-operation and exchange of expertise to make the region home of the best health tourism destinations in the world.

Tamer El Chamaa, the director of the congress, said it was being hosted for the second consecutive year in Dubai as it offers a perfect location for bringing together such a large gathering of medical tourism industry stakeholders and specialists from various countries and also acknowledged its efforts to highly promote health tourism.

"The Dubai Declaration will be the kick-start towards establishing the Gulf and Arab regions firmly on the global health tourism map, thereby contributing to an increase in the number of arrivals for medical treatment and tourism at the same time," he observed.

Several top dignitaries will be addressing the congress including Sheikh Diab bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, Dr Bandar Bin Fahd al-Fehaid, the president of the ATO, Dr Tawfiq bin Ahmed Khoja, the director general of Executive Office of the Council of Ministers of Health of the GCC states, and Ahmad Ibrahim Saif Kalban, the executive director of Hospital Services at DHA.  

A grand ceremony will be held at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai on Sunday evening to present awards and acknowledge a number of organizations in the health tourism industry, including the Best Hospital, Best Health Centre, Best Health Insurance Company and Best Health Tourism Destination.-TradeArabia News Service