Jordan held its first International Medical Tourism Congress on January 30th, under the patronage of Prime Minister Nader al-Dahabi, and the participation of Health Ministers, and representatives of Educational, Higher Educational, Medical and Nursing institutions, as well as Jordan’s Private Hospital Association, the Jordan Tourism Board, and USAID.

Discussions focused on regulatory, legal, and policy reforms that are needed to help protect the rights of patients visiting the country, and to provide them with standardized services. The Congress also discussed the potentials of the Medical sector, as well as ideas on increasing its capacity, and ways to venture potential markets.

The 4-day Congress came as World Bank tourism experts ranked Jordan as the region’s top destination and the world’s number 5 as a medical tourism hub. According to the Private Hospital Association (PHA), over 250,000 people from 84 countries have been treated in Jordanian hospitals in 2007.

The medical services sector in Jordan aims at increasing revenues generated by incoming patients to $1bn by the year 2012, from a present income ranging from $ 650-700 million.

A study commissioned by the PHA for the Ministry of Health said 45,000 Iraqi patients have treated by Jordanian private hospitals in 2007, while Palestinians and Sudanese came second with around 25,000 patients from each country. The study also showed that more than 1,800 US citizens, 1,200 UK citizens and 400 Canadian citizens sought medical treatment in the Kingdom during 2007.