Medical Tourism - Destination - Dubai

Dubai boasts a safe, wealthy location where Arabic and English are both spoken. It currently attracts medical tourists mainly from Germany (45%), UK (27.8%) and Singapore (10.3%). These medical tourists select Dubai due to its lower waiting times and the high quality of medical care. The workforce is internationally trained although this results in a lack of national workforce and medical teaching facilities that are recognised outside of the UAE. Dubai’s specialisations focus on cardiology, orthopaedics, oncology, cosmetic and plastic surgery and dermatology. Promotion of medical tourism is increasing with the construction of the Dubai Healthcare City and it is hoped that the medical tourism revenue will increase USD 1.9 billion (€ 1.27 billion) each year by 2010, with an annual growth of 15%. Given the current economic crisis, this may be too optimistic.

General Culture

Dubai’s culture is cosmopolitan, 90% of the population consists of expatriates. Therefore, English is widely spoken. With Islam being the official religion, culture in Dubai is essentially Muslim, with very strict dress codes and values among nationals. However, they are tolerant with regard to tourists’ general habits.

Arabic food is popular, with for instance shawarma, a traditional snack, or hareis, a delicacy of slow-cooked wheat and lamb. Fast food, South Asian, Chinese and other cuisines are also widely available.

Safety

The United Arab Emirates rank 42 on the GPI. However, Dubai is considered to be “a safe haven in a troubled region” as the government is committed to maintaining peace and security as its number one priority.

Tourists Attractions and Sights

• Duty free Shops in Dubai: among the largest duty free operations in the world, these shops offer gold, electronic gadgets, cosmetics, textiles, toys, gifts, books, accessories, caviar and chocolates. There is a Dubai Shopping Festival in January and February
• Bur Dubai Museum: housed in the Al-Fahidi Fort, built in 1787 to defend Dubai Creek. The walls of the fort are built from coral and shell
• Burj Al Arab: the world’s tallest hotel (321 m high) constructed in a sail-shape, and located on its own artificial island on the Dubai coastline
• Mall of the Emirates: one of the largest shopping centres in the world
• The Palm Islands (The Palm Dubai / The Palms): the three largest man-made islands in the world

Visa Requirements

Nationals of the following countries do not require visas to enter the UAE: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States. Holders of Israeli passports can expect their visa applications to be denied due to political reasons.

Transportation

The most common method of transport in Dubai is the local taxi services with a variety of services. Public transport system, including a fairly reliable bus service and ferries, operates within the confines of Dubai. Moreover, a metro system is being built at the moment. Dubai has one international airport, which is the fastest growing airport in the Middle East.

Accommodation

Accommodation in Dubai ranges from budget to boutique and five-star hotels, even though there are not many budget options. The main international chains present are Hilton Worldwide, Marriott Hotels and Resorts, Accor Hotels, Shangri La Hotels and Resorts, Hyatt Regency, Rezidor Group and Starwood Hotels and Resorts to name a few. Concerning medical recovery accommodations, they are not available in Dubai outside of the hospitals.

Health Care Providers

Main health care providers include the Department of Health and Medical Services (DoHMS), which provides public health facilities particularly for Dubai, the Ministry of Health and private hospitals and clinics. Public or government subsidised hospitals account for 69% of the total hospital beds whereas private sector accounts for the remaining 31%. In 2008, there were 17 private, three local and two federal hospitals in Dubai, as well as 659 dental clinics. In 2005, only 1% of health care employees were UAE nationals. The country faces the problem of finding a qualified workforce.

Insurance

Dubai announced a compulsory health insurance scheme for all residents from January 2009. Under this scheme both nationals and expatriates receive basic health insurance coverage. The percentage of residents who have additional private health insurance is not known.

Reforms/Policies

The ruler of Dubai and vice-president of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has established a strategic plan for 2015 covering the health sector development with focus on organisational, legislative and legal frameworks based on international best practices. This will encourage hospitals to apply for international accreditations and tighten up the licensing of the clinical workforce. At the moment projects including linking hospitals electronically and developing a medical archiving system have been launched. Moreover, the government actively encourages growth in the private health care sector.

General Medical Tourism Information

Dubai has been a prime holiday destination for years, with 6,951,798 tourists visiting the country in 2007, including 2,156 medical tourists spending a total of € 32,456,143. Dubai is a considerably new hub for medical tourism, although the industry is growing rapidly. However, the UAE is also an outbound country with 312,000 UAE patients treated abroad in 2007. It was estimated that medical tourism could generate up to USD 1.9 billion (€ 1.27 billion) each year by 2010, with an annual growth of 15%, which seems unrealistic with the current economic crisis in Dubai.

Many expatriates have left the country leaving behind US$ 80 billion of debt (€ 53.5 billion). Due to the high amount of expats living in the country it is difficult to define a medical tourist in Dubai and no information is currently available or clearly defined. Many of the 312,000 outgoing medical tourists are expats travelling to their home country for treatments.

The country is actively improving and promoting its medical infrastructure through opening the Dubai Healthcare City, a 500-acre complex with three major ventures: medical care, medical research, and wellness promotion. In addition, the new website www.doctor-dubai.com, licensed under the Ministry of Health in the UAE, helps consumers to find doctors. The Ministry of Health also plans to introduce a rating system for medical facilities based on the star-grading system used by the hotel industry.

Flows

Dubai’s medical tourists are mainly come from Germany (45%), UK (27.8%), Singapore (10.3%), Thailand (6%), US (3.5%), India (3.3%), other (4.1%). 98 However, US patients are a potential market for Dubai as cost savings are around 53%.

Reasons

• Quality: many of the clinical staff have been trained at the world’s leading medical schools. There are also partnerships with world famous organisations, e.g. Harvard Medical School.
• No waiting times.
• Holiday destination: famous for its beaches, high-class facilities as well as duty free shopping.
• Language skills: a high level of English due to 90% of expatriates. Arabic is also widely spoken.
• Safety: Dubai is one of the safest places in the world.

Specialisation

The main areas of medical specialisation in Dubai include:

• Cardiology
• Orthopaedics (hip resurfacing)
• Dermatology
• Oncology
• Cosmetic and plastic surgery

Top Facilities

The top facilities have been selected using the following criteria’s, listed in order of importance: JCI Accreditation, ISQua accreditation, international orientation. In general national accreditation systems have not been taken into consideration, due to the fact that there are too many and judging them is out of the scope of this study. There are nine JCI accredited hospitals in Dubai. The ones considered in this project include:

• Dubai Hospital (DoHMS)
• American Hospital Dubai
• Belhoul Specialty Hospital
• Zulekha Hospital
• International Modern Hospital

SWOT

Conclusion

Dubai boasts a safe, wealthy location where Arabic and English are both spoken. It currently attracts medical tourists mainly from Germany (45%), UK (27.8%) and Singapore (10.3%). The workforce is internationally trained although this results in a lack of a national workforce and medical teaching facilities that are recognised outside of the UAE. Promotion of medical tourism is increasing with the construction of the Dubai Healthcare City and it was hoped that the medical tourism revenue will increase by USD 1.9 billion (€ 1.27 billion) each year, with an annual growth of 15%. However, this seems unrealistic in view of the current economic crisis.

Note: All prices are estimates, and may vary widely from source to source depending on services included in the estimate (i.e. doctor’s fees, hospitalisation, administration costs or the patient’s age and medical history). Due to non-disclosure strategies of the various locations, it was not possible to make a clear separation between those factors. All prices given for the specific facilities have been provided by the hospitals/clinics themselves via email or telephone contact. The prices are given in Euros (€).

N/A means either that treatment are not available in the specific hospital, that a price estimation cannot be found or that the medical facility did not disclose the information. For the average prices, printed literature has been used before researching sources on the internet.