Over 300,000 medical travellers to Iran

Iran’s Ministry of Health says the country attracted over 300,000 medical travellers during the past Iranian calendar year ended March 2018.

Medical tourist arrivals in the country has nearly doubled in the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year, corresponding to spring 2018, from a year earlier, claims the Ministry of Health.

The ministry’s medical tourism department says that based on official statistics, the country attracted over 300,000 medical travellers during the past Iranian calendar year ended March 20 2018.

Iraq and Afghanistan provide the vast majority of medical tourists to Iran. The increase in number of Iraqi travellers is dominantly derived by foreign currency rises as Iran’s economy is facing pressure from the re-imposition of US-led sanctions.

The ministry believes that Iran has the capacity to annually earn $7 billion in medical and health tourism, though the sector now brings in less than $1 billion.

166 hospitals in Iran hold special licenses to treat medical tourists as they meet quality standards set by the ministry of health.

The government has agreed to convert Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, a leading promoter of medical tourism, to a tourism ministry.