Will Turkey be the next medical tourism giant?

Yeni Safak, the conservative turkish newspaper reported – Turkey’s rise in world health tourism will double the revenue the country makes from treating foreign patients in 2014, according to Minister of Health, Mehmet Muezzinoglu. “Russians and citizens of the Turkic republics top the list of foreign patients who prefer Turkey. We aim to double this year’s USD 2.5 billion medical tourism income in 2014”, Muezzinoglu said, assessing his Ministry’s yearly performance.

“Beginning in 2014, two successive 5-year plans will be put into action to further improve Turkey’s status as a regional healthcare hub that can serve the surrounding region of about a billion people”, Turkey’s Minister of Health noted. Hosting a large number of world-class healthcare facilities and internationally accredited hospitals, Turkey welcomed some 270,000 foreign patients seeking high-quality and affordable treatment in 2012, up from 74,000 in 2008. Planning to introduce tax-free healthcare zones specifically tailored for foreign patients, Turkey’s Ministry of Health intends to increase the number of medical tourists to 500,000 by 2015 and 2 million by 2023.

Why Turkey?

• Turkey has the highest number of JCI accredited healthcare institutions in the world.
  
• Turkey is presently recognized as a competitive and high technology healthcare destination treating thousands of foreign patients from Europe and neighboring countries every month.
  
• Close to 60 internationally competitive medical faculties training thousands of Turkish and foreign medical students and high certification standards for physicians ensure successful medical results in a wide variety of specialties.
  
• Culturally vibrant atmosphere in metropolitan Turkish cities provide a friendly and safe environment for patients and spouses to fully recuperate.
  
• The incredibly central geographical location of Turkey at a crossroad between Europe and Asia allow for easy access and short flying times to every destination in the world.
  
• Turkey is an EU candidate country currently fulfilling membership criteria ensuring high and consistent standards in healthcare.
  
• Reliable quotes and consistent prices are the norm.
  
• All accredited Turkish hospitals are outfitted with world-class infrastructure and modern technology.
  
• Almost all major pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson and Johnson, Sanofi-Aventis, Merck, Novartis, Roche, Astra Zeneca are present in Turkey with regional headquarters and manufacturing facilities as well as many local manufacturers.
  

Reliable supply of blood is provided by Kızılay (the Turkish Red Crescent) which is a JCI accredited organization.