TEHRAN - The 4th International Health Congress of Islamic Countries started at Tehran’s Homa Hotel on Wednesday with the aim of promoting health and medical tourism among the Islamic countries.

The three-day event has brought together officials, senior scholars, academia, and travel agents from the public and private sectors in order to introduce their latest achievements, share experiences and discuss issues concerning economic and technological developments. 

Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, India, South Africa, Russia, Serbia, Hungary and Kyrgyzstan are among the countries whose representatives have been invited to take part in the event.

This event is not only for the Islamic countries, but it is also for all companies and organizations attempting to work in this huge market, according to organizers. Paying special attention and supporting active startups in the field of health tourism is another objective of this international event.

Addressing the audience, Alireza Zali, the president of the congress, stressed the importance of health and medial tourism in bringing non-oil revenues for Iran, saying that cities of the country, particularly Tehran, have a vast potential to offer quality medical services to foreign travelers at reasonable-prices.

Tourism minister Ali-Asghar Mounesan said in August that medical [and health] travelers constitute a significant share of arrivals in the country.

“[Nearly] 7.8 million foreign nationals visited Iran over the past [Iranian calendar] year [ended March 20] that a significant number of whom were medical tourists,” Mounesan noted.

The Islamic republic hosted a record high of nearly 600,000 medical travelers during the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-July 21), nearly equal to the figure for the whole past year, according to an Iranian association for the health tourism promotion.

Many domestic experts say that medical tourism in Iran produces win-win outcomes as the country yields considerable benefits to international health-care seekers, offering affordable yet quality treatment services.

The country has set its goals to exceed its yearly medical travelers to around 2 million in [calendar year] 1404 (March 2025-March 2026).

AFM/MG