Healthy outlook

A delegation of medical operators from Switzerland recently visited the UAE to explore opportunities to grow the Swiss medical tourism sector

- VARUN GODINHO

Switzerland’s robust healthcare system is among the best in the world. According to a 2018 Euro Health Consumer Index (EHCI) ranking which surveyed 35 European countries, the Alpine nation came out on top with 893 out of a total of 1,000 points.

While it has been a boon to domestic patients (Switzerland reportedly spends around 12 per cent of its GDP on healthcare), it is also in the enviable position of offering its top-notch services to international patients. As Mark Wettstein, director of health tourism at Switzerland Tourism says, there are around 35,000 annual inpatients at Swiss hospitals with residency outside Switzerland. These foreign patients represent around 2 per cent of total patients at Swiss hospitals.

The main source countries for these foreign patients, according to Wettstein, are the GCC region, Russia (including the former Commonwealth of Independent States) and EU countries.