Jordan the Arab Medical Tourism Champion

..ancient wall city of Petra

Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba. It shares borders with Syria to the north, Iraq to the north-east, the West Bank and Israel to the west, and Saudi Arabia to the east and south. It shares control of the Dead Sea with Israel, and the coastline of the Gulf of Aqaba with the State of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Much of Jordan is covered by desert. The capital city of Amman is in the north-west.

So what do we know about Jordan besides maybe the ancient wall city of Petra sometimes claimed as 'Petra, Jordan, the place in the desert that is prepared by God for the Jewish people'?.

How about medical tourists? Really.

Private Hospital Association (PHA) president Fawzi Hammouri contends the World Bank places Jordan as first among the Arab countries and among the top 10 in the world when it concerns medical travel.

A study by Jordan’s Private Hospital Association (PHA) reports that last year, 210,000 patients from 48 countries received treatment in local medical facilities. This was an increase compared with the 190,000 patients in the previous year.

Most of the patients come from Iraq, Palestine, Sudan and Yemen.

“In order to maintain this ranking, we have to keep the current markets in the Arab world and find new ones in Africa, Europe and the US,” he said. “We have already marketed in Chad, Nigeria, Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.”

PHA is a private, voluntary, non-profit organisation established in1984 to represent the interests of 48 private hospitals in Jordan. It seeks to raise medical standards, supports national and international accreditation and promotes the Hashemite Kingdom as a medical tourism destination. To enable these ambitions to be fulfilled more quickly, it is planning to allow public and university hospitals to join its ranks. The new grouping will eventually be named Jordan Hospital Association.

PHA is working with member hospitals to promote specially designed healthcare offers to Americans and Europeans. Hammouri explains: “ We will provide them with packages that are 25 percent below market prices. This includes the plane ticket, accommodation and a visit to Petra to encourage local tourism as well.”

Really.