Dr. Fawzi Al- Hammouri Chairman of the Private Hospitals Association has announced that Jordan will be holding the largest Forum specialized in Healthcare travel in the MENA region which is organized by the Private Hospitals Association in collaboration with the Global Healthcare Travel Council and the Arab Hospital Federation under the royal patronage of his Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein during the period from the 26th-28th of October 2019.
Dr. Hammouri has stated during a press conference which took place at Le Royal Hotel that organizing this important Forum brings to show the Private Hospitals Association’s strategy in shedding more light on the possibilities and capabilities in the field of Medical Tourism and Health Travel in Jordan.
He also added that the association was keen on attracting large numbers of representatives from local and international parties who are specialized in medical tourism, wellness, pharmaceuticals, medical equipments, medical insurance, tourism and especially those involved in referring patients abroad and giving them the opportunity to participate in the activities of the “International Healthcare Travel Forum 2019” and hence get acquainted with the progress which has been achieved by the health sector in Jordan in addition to the advances that was achieved in Jordan.
Dr. Hammouri added that the forum will host about 700 participants from over 45 countries from around the world, including high caliber of Jordanian, Arab and foreign key note speakers who will talk about a number of important topics in medical tourism, hospitalization and healthcare travel within sessions such as Healthcare Excellence in Jordan, Legislations, Regulations & Accreditation, Media & Digital Trends in Healthcare, Healthcare Marketing, Patient Experience and other related topics.
There will also be a ministerial session with the participation of a number of Jordanian and Arab ministers under the theme "Expansion of Healthcare Travel" which will be held at the beginning of the Forum.
Dr. Hammouri pointed out that one of the Private Hospitals Association’s main objectives in organizing this Forum is to continue to highlight the “Amman Declaration” for health travel which was declared in the International Medical Tourism Forum organized by PHA under the royal patronage of his majesty in 2017 in Amman and therefore most of the main topics throughout the sessions will circle around the Eight themes which he reviewed including medical tourism, dental tourism, wellness tourism, spa tourism, culinary tourism, sports tourism, assisted residential tourism and accessible tourism for all
He stated that all the mentioned themes are available in Jordan and that promoting them will double the number of visitors coming to Jordan to benefit from these services and thus increase the treasury revenues of foreign currencies and contribute to the stability of the Jordanian dinar leading to employment of more Jordanian citizens hence reducing unemployment.
He also further explained that the forum will also include an exhibition and bilateral meetings between providers and buyers of health services to discuss opportunities and possibilities of cooperation in the field of health and treatment and the signing of bilateral agreements in this regard
Dr. Hammouri also pointed out that this Forum is organized due to the strong competition that Jordan is facing from a number of countries in the world competing in the medical tourism field due to the results this tourism brings to these countries as well as it’s considered a follow up to the Private Hospitals Associations related activities and international participations.
Dr. Hammouri strongly expressed his appreciation of His Majesty King Abdullah II support to the medical and wellness tourism sector in the Kingdom and stated that this support represents among other things, His Majesty's recognition of the sector's role in supporting the national economy.
He said that the government has started to pay more attention and care to medical tourism, pointing out the formation of a board of trustees for health tourism under the chairmanship of the Minister of Health and the membership of the ministers of tourism, interior and foreign affairs, Private Hospitals Association, the Jordan tourism board and other related parties.
Dr. Hammouri expressed his hope that the forum will produce positive results that will contribute to enhancing Jordan's position as number one destination for medical and wellness tourism in the region.