Emirates sets eyes on medical tourism

The United Arab Emirates' decision to become the first country to approve the use of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines for its citizens has widened its opportunities for health cooperation with China.

With the medical and wellness tourism industry expected to grow rapidly in the UAE, foreign residents based in the Arab nation are optimistic about the high-quality engagements this could inspire in neighboring countries.

Peggy Li, managing partner at Sps; affinity, a service-centric global strategy and communications consultancy in Dubai, told China Daily that after the coronavirus outbreak, Sinopharm was the first vaccine to be supplied in the region before other vaccines entered the scene.

"For the Chinese nationals in Africa, there was no supply (of vaccines). That was when the Chinese government told all the Chinese nationals in Africa …'Please come to the UAE to have your vaccination'," Li recalled. Ten places had been designated for the purpose.

The vaccination drive required foreign nationals to stay in the UAE for three weeks to a month. This "brought a different type of tourism to Dubai" during the pandemic, said Li.

In May 2021, the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Chinese embassy in the UAE jointly announced the launch of a regional vaccination site in Dubai. The campaign, dubbed "Spring Sprout Action", was managed by the Dubai Health Authority.

Chinese nationals over the age of 16 and who held a short-term UAE nonresidency visa were administered two doses of the Sinopharm vaccine in Dubai.

In the same year, also in collaboration with China, the UAE rolled out its first indigenous vaccine, Hayat-Vax, manufactured by Sinopharm and technology company G42. The company had an initial capacity to produce 2 million vaccine doses per month.

Li said these policies and cooperation changed the migration landscape in the region, which she said "was a welcome sign".

"A lot of Chinese felt, 'Do I need to travel to Switzerland for this type of medical treatment? Could I go somewhere without a visa?'…And this is where the UAE has a role to play," said Li.

In an interview with China Daily during his visit to Hong Kong in April, Hadi Badri, CEO of Economic Development at Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism, said Dubai is "not a large market" but its healthcare infrastructure "is very good".

He said Dubai "has experienced and continues to experience", on the medical front, a lot of inbound traffic from other markets. Citing the COVID-19 pandemic as an example, Badri said since Dubai was open to visitors, those who needed to have an operation but were on the waiting list in other markets "were able to get surgeries (done) there".

"Wards were busy during the pandemic, (people) were actually coming … and having their surgeries in Dubai, with very good doctors and excellent aftercare, which is affordable," said Badri.

Data compiled by the UAE's Ministry of Economy showed the outbreak of COVID-19 had an adverse impact on the global medical tourism market. But it also introduced a new branch of medical tourism known as "vaccine tourism", which involves travel for the purpose of vaccination and tourism.

With the resumption of travel, global medical tourism was expected to grow by the end of 2022 at pre-pandemic rates, according to the ministry.

Dubai ranks sixth globally with a score of 71.85 on the 2020-21 Medical Tourism Index, while Abu Dhabi ranks ninth.

The UAE ranks first globally in terms of the number of accredited health facilities, with 205 hospitals, medical centers, and health facilities, according to Joint Commission International, an independent, nonprofit organization. In 2021, medical facilities in the UAE treated patients from 153 countries.

"On the vaccine side, on the life sciences side … we would like to develop more out of Dubai.

"We are looking at the best partners to come in and use Dubai as a platform to establish their expertise and make their investments in the market. We would be happy to support them to thrive in the local market, and also to export," said Badri.