“It’s safer than you think” is the theme of this year’s World Medical Tourism Day, which takes place today, 1 April 2015.
Despite its staggering impact on the economies of small islands such as San Serriffe, medical tourism remains one of those industries that remains largely ignored, and exists in the dim and dark corners of most people’s minds when it comes to seeking a solution to a healthcare problem.
The inaugural World Medical Tourism Day (WMTD) draws special attention to the role of medical tourism in contributing to the revenues earned by hotels and conference venues who have been the main beneficiaries of the exponential growth in the industry. A conference has been announced to bring together the multitude of medical tourism conference organisers worldwide. Medical Tourism Conference Organisers and Opportunists 2016 (MTCOO 2016) will be a unique event taking place over a period of five weeks across five continents during April 2016. The MTCOO 2016 “road show” is expected to attract over 1,000 delegates across the world. Turkey has already agreed to sponsor the event and will be sending a full delegation representing the country’s numerous health tourism associations.
World Medical Tourism Day events
World Medical Tourism Day will be marked today by a series of events taking place across the globe.
- Thailand will be attempting to set a world record for the number of medical tourists treated in one day. Officials from the Guinness Book of World Records will be on hand to ensure that multiple counting of medical tourists does not occur.
- Fly2Cosmetic, the medical tourism start up of 2014 that has capitalised on the growth seen in the market for cosmetic surgery abroad, will be celebrating with a special “round Europe” flight, dropping off cosmetic surgery patients at their desired destinations and picking them up post surgery that evening.
- Following his sacking by the BBC, former Top Gear presenter, Jeremy Clarkson will be announcing his new medical programme “Top Gurney”. The programme will feature “A Doctor in a Reasonably Priced Hospital” where each week an overseas surgeon is challenged to complete a gallbladder removal in the quickest time and at the lowest cost.
- The San Serriffe Medical Tourism Association (SSMTA) will mark the event with the creation of a new app based certification programme for those involved in the medical tourism sector. The new Mobile Medical Tourism Professional Program will be delivered via SMS messages, and an e-certificate will be issued for local printing. Program fees ($150 plus SMS charges) will be collected via PayPal or Bitcoin payment. A certificate framing service will be offered as a $50 add on.
- In a pre-election initiative, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) will be launching its new programme to fix the NHS. All non-UK citizens working within the NHS (accounting for approximately 25% of NHS staff) will be required to relocate to their country of origin and provide services to UK patients from their home country. It is anticipated that the resulting boom in UK patients travelling abroad will overwhelm the healthcare services in some destinations, but will deliver a £5 billion cost saving to the NHS .
How to take part and raise awareness
This year’s official celebrations will take place in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire and include a high-level, lunch time, Think Tank on the 2015 theme with the participation of anyone we can gather in the Kings Arms, a great pub across the road from the offices of International Medical Travel Journal..
To keep up-to-date with this year’s WMTD activities, and to learn more about MTCOO 2016, keep an eye on the IMTJ twitter feed.
Or wait 14 days and celebrate on April 15th
Alternatively, if you believe the above is all a load of tosh, and want to know what’s really going on in the world of medical tourism, sign up for the IMTJ Medical Travel Summit, taking place in London April 15th-16th 2015.
And join the celebrations at the dinner for the IMTJ Medical Travel Awards on April 15th. We may even serve up a traditional English fruit fool for dessert…
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