Medical tourism development in Central and Eastern Europe

Medical Tourism to Central and Eastern Europe is believed to be increasing. The region as a whole offers a variety of affordable treatments and procedures within easy reach of most European and Asian travellers. Many states are former communist bloc countries that are new to advertising, marketing and private healthcare. To them, medical tourism is a growth industry. Getting information on numbers is difficult.

Medical Tourism to Central and Eastern Europe is believed to be increasing. The region as a whole offers a variety of affordable treatments and procedures within easy reach of most European and Asian travellers. Many states are former communist bloc countries that are new to advertising, marketing and private healthcare. To them, medical tourism is a growth industry. Getting information on numbers is difficult.

Croatia is slowly but surely establishing a name for itself as a medical tourist centre, with low-cost treatment and high standard of care. Medical travel is based on dentistry and cosmetic surgery, spas and health resorts, not hospital treatment.

Miljenko Bura, who recently formed Medical Group to bring together 36 private clinics, dentists and surgeons keen to cater to foreign patients and promote medical tourism in Croatia, says, “Croatia has excellent medical staff and a long tradition. We can be competitive in every respect when it comes to dentistry, surgery and aesthetic surgery, which are well developed here.”

Medical Group plans to build a state-of-the-art medical centre on the coast and has already attracted strong interest from foreign investors keen to invest in medical tourism in Croatia. The recession is also playing into Croatia’s hands because prices will become an increasingly important factor. DentVitalis owner Sime Zivkovic reports a steadily growing number of foreigners coming to Croatia as prices are sometimes up to a third of those in Western Europe.

There are also many medical tourists from Russia because it is problematic to receive some kinds of treatment back home. Armenia offers cosmetic or dental procedures. Laser surgery is also available in this former soviet country. Clinics in Yerevan perform laser hair removal and corrective laser eye surgery is also available. Doctors in Armenia perform even more complex surgeries than the cosmetic ones, including open-heart surgery.

The Central and Eastern Medical Tourism Summit (CEEMTHS) is a medical tourism conference that will focus on the region and showcase agencies and providers from countries that include Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Estonia, Armenia and Turkmenistan to a global audience.

The two-day conference in Zagreb, Croatia on 17th – 18th May 2010 includes a general medical tourism agenda plus a further conference dedicated to dental medical tourism.