TEHRAN—Iran’s Kordestan is launching a new tourism campaign aimed at attracting international patients primarily from neighboring countries.

As part of the drive, it is getting prepared to host a vast exhibition in which more than 120 stalls would highlight the western province’s achievements and capacities for the budding sector.

This exhibition seeks to spotlight the capacities of health tourism in Iran, especially in Kordestan province, on the one hand, and announce new opportunities for investment on the other hand, ISNA quoted a local official as saying on Saturday.

The event will be held in close collaboration with the private sector in Sanandaj from October 27 to 29, the official said.

The number of medical tourists visiting Iran is around one million people per annum, an official with the Health Ministry said in August. “We consider this sector as health diplomacy, which is a suitable platform to develop the country’s international interactions, ” said Mohammad-Hossein Niknam, who presides over the ministry’s department for international cooperation.

Experts say Iran’s medical tourism is a win-win opportunity both for the country and foreign patients, as they are offered affordable yet quality treatment services and the country gains considerable foreign currency.

The ancient country is known in the world as an affordable destination for health tourism, and the government is making a great effort to attract more medical tourists in the years to come. Credible surgeons and physicians, cutting-edge medical technologies, high-tech medicine and diverse specializations, super affordable procedures, and finally its hospitable people, are considered Iran’s trump card when it comes to medical tourism.

In the global scene, medical tourism is booming worldwide, as about 20 to 24 million people are traveling for medical treatments annually. Factors such as increased care needs over longer lifespans, rising healthcare costs, and constant pressures on some insurance industries are reasons behind why some opt to travel abroad.

AFM