Why Türkiye is an Ideal Destination for Health Tourism

One trend happening in the medical scene recently is the growth of medical or health tourism. Which simply put is the act of travelling to another country to use their medical care and other health services.

The health tourism industry

Health or medical tourism is mostly considered by residents of lesser-developed countries where some medical treatments for specific conditions are not yet available. They travel abroad to get the right treatment they need. However, the trend is shifting where more developed countries are seeking lower-cost but higher quality medical treatment with shorter lead times (or no waiting times in many cases).

The popularity of health tourism is rising, so much so that the global medical tourism market is expected to reach $346.1 billion in 2032.

Other reasons for this movement’s popularity are as follows:

• More affordable treatment without sacrificing the quality of service
• No need to wait for a schedule for elective surgeries or procedures
• For immigrants flying to their home country for a medical procedure, it is the time to get the healing and care they need
• For others flying away from their country, taking the treatment away from their home means fewer questions to answer and fewer explanations to make to family and friends

Türkiye for medical tourism

One of the top 17 popular countries for medical tourism today is Türkiye. In 2022, more than a million 700,000 foreigners visited Türkiye just to take advantage of their excellent medical treatment and care services. Overall, 32 per cent of the country’s patients are medical tourists!

Some of the reasons behind Türkiye’s popularity are the following:

• The country has an affordable healthcare system
• It has the highest number of US-accredited hospitals
• Most doctors, having trained in Europe and America, choose to practice and take up their residency in Türkiye

If these aren’t enough reasons for you to consider Türkiye for your medical tourism, here are some advantages you should consider:

1. Türkiye is the central hub for the East and the West

Türkiye is said to be the gateway between the east and west. Its location is easily accessible whichever continent or country you may be coming from. Also, it has always been a global commercial, cultural, and political centre.

Istanbul Airport, in Türkiye, is also considered as one of the world’s largest airports. Once its expansion is finished in the latter part of 2020, it will cater for and accommodate around 200 million passengers each year and will have around 300 direct flights worldwide.

2. Surgeries are cheaper in Türkiye 

In general, surgeries in Türkiye can be up to 90 per cent cheaper, and 67 per cent of those who travel abroad take advantage of this for their private hospital treatment. That speaks a lot about how affordable their medical offers are. Cosmetic surgery in Türkiye is also 70 per cent cheaper than most of Europe. You get to save more without sacrificing the quality of the treatments you’re looking for.

Moreover, Turkish Airlines also offer a special discount for medical travellers. If you calculate the total expense of your surgery, your travel fee, and accommodation, the cost would still be cheaper compared to getting the same surgery in most western countries so why not have a holiday at the same time!

3. Well-rounded when it comes to treatment offerings

While some countries are popular for certain types of treatment, Türkiye is different. People around the world travel to Türkiye for various reasons, such as hair transplants, cancer treatments, dental treatments, low-cost in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), and more. They are also popular when it comes to smoking and mental health therapy.

4. Quality hospitals and surgeons

The beauty of the medical industry in Türkiye is how the country’s government helps develop and upgrade its health sector, keeping it at the very top of the industry. The government follows a PPP model (private-public-partnership) to improve the country’s healthcare infrastructure, and the private hospitals also invest in improving their health facilities. As mentioned earlier, in addition to investment, internationally trained surgeons decide to stay and perform their profession in Türkiye ensuring the level of care is always the best it can be.

5. Quick response

Because they know the value of medical tourism in their country, they give importance to their foreign patients too. You can get a procedure scheduled in as early as two weeks compared to waiting for almost 18 months for some procedures in in the UK.

Conclusion

If you need an option for your surgery or special treatment, do consider Türkiye. Besides the quality and the availability of affordable medical treatments, you get to experience the unique blend of Oriental, European, and Arab cultures in this beautiful country.

Are you interested in taking advantage of medical tourism and becoming a health tourist? WeCure can help arrange everything for you! We are a UK-based medical facilitation company, and we can connect you to trusted doctors and clinics in Türkiye!

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Photo by Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz on Unsplash