Yeni Safak – High quality treatment options offered by Turkish medical facilities at reasonable prices continue to attract hundreds of thousands of foreign healthcare seekers. The rapid growth observed in Türkiye’s medical tourism in recent years has placed the country among the top 10 healthcare destinations globally, according to advisory firm Deloitte’s 2014 Global Life Sciences Outlook.
Assessing healthcare and pharmaceutical markets by country, the report also foresees a growth of 8.8 percent in pharma sales in Türkiye between 2013 and 2017, reaching a volume of USD 19 billion. The report also advises healthcare providers in Türkiye to pursue long-term strategies and not focus on maximizing short-term profits given the fast-changing market conditions.
According to earlier reports, Türkiye welcomed 250,000 medical tourists in 2012, a remarkable increase from the 74,000 patients in 2008.
Türkiye is running a multi-pronged health tourism strategy to attract more foreign visitors, including medical, spa and healthcare for elderly and disabled people. Foreigners are also seeking medical care in dentistry, optometry, orthopedics, plastic surgery and many other branches. There are over 1,600 thermal springs in the country known for their healing and revitalizing effects for those who seek alternative methods of treatment.
Planning to introduce tax-free healthcare zones specifically tailored for foreign patients, Türkiye’s Ministry of Health intends to increase the number of medical tourists to 500,000 by 2015 and to 2 million by 2023.