“Health tourism” requires a unified management
The head of the Nature Therapy and Health Committee of the Iranian Health Tourism Society said: “Health tourism from the field of policy to implementation should have a single management, beyond a ministry, and upstream documents and related regulations and procedures and its executive guarantee should be transparent and explicit.” To be compiled and communicated.
Dr. Mohammad Panahi in an interview with IRNA Cultural Reporter about planning and development of health tourism said: Iran due to its valuable medical history, reasonable cost and price of treatment, the presence of specialist doctors, short surgical services, cultural commonalities with target market countries Especially the neighbors and of course the hospitality of the people of our country, has been proven in the field of health tourism for many years and has a brand, and there is a capacity to be introduced as a health tourism hub in the region and even the world.
The head of the Nature Therapy and Health Committee of the Iranian Health Tourism Society, with the pathology of the development of this type of tourism in Iran, said: Is.
In this field, 5 agencies of the Ministry of Heritage, Culture, Tourism and Handicrafts, the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chamber of Commerce and the Organization of the Medical System are working together, and each according to its inherent duties and reasoning. , Consider themselves the custodians of this field and still do not have a single mechanism and discourse.
Emphasizing that health tourism is an inter-sectoral process, he said: “A department or a device can not take responsibility for this area alone. On the other hand, the most important factor influencing this type of process is the existence of a single management, which is both macro and Policy-making in both the executive and operational spheres must be considered; Although the relevant agencies perform their inherent tasks in the field of health tourism relatively well, but because the unit management process is not formed, the desired result is not achieved.
Panahi pointed out: On the other hand, the upstream laws and policies in the field of tourism are not very clear and explicit; Although the National Tourism Development Document has been drafted and communicated, which is very important, in order to clarify the upstream documents, its detailed rules and relevant regulations must be developed and communicated, these regulations can be effective along with the unit management.
The university lecturer stated: Many problems and obstacles in the path of planners and stakeholders in the field of tourism health are due to the lack of a correct and clear definition of job descriptions; For example, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts cites health tourism companies that have paragraph B, while the bylaws and rules of operation of these companies include items and other instructions are notified in the following instructions; Previously, it was the case that any company with paragraph B could have an incoming tourist, but in the subsequent notification instructions, a health tourism certificate was added to it, which is not legally required by the regulations and is merely an agreement within the structure.
He said that the biggest problem in the field of health tourism is the lack of a single command structure and stressed: health tourism from policy to implementation should have a single management beyond a ministry, on the other hand more upstream documents should be developed and related regulations and instructions and Its executive guarantee must be communicated so that it can be accepted and implemented by the stakeholders and related organizations in this field, which necessitates centralization and unit command.
Panahi stated: In the institutions related to tourism, the health of each structure or ministry has a series of inherent laws and duties, and there is a possibility of non-compliance or annulment of some laws in each structure; In order for serious legal channels to be pursued, a unified management structure must be formed beyond a ministry.
A member of the policy council of the Health Tourism Association of Iran said: The Health Tourism Steering Council was formed in 2015 and its documents were signed by 4 bodies, but since it is just an agreement, it has no executive guarantee, if the legal structures of this council in the cabinet or parliament If it is approved by Islam, it can make policy and implement it as one of the main authorities in this field.
Transfer of health tourism ownership to the private sector
Dr. Panahi, emphasizing that the management of the health tourism unit should only be responsible for policy-making and supervision, said: The public sector should not enter the field of health tourism enterprise in any way, in principle, the strategy of the public sector should be to transfer the enterprise to the private sector; Tourism and facilitation companies, hospitals and private medical and residential centers in the tourism health process as a circle of stakeholders can from the country of origin (first tourist) to the last point in the destination country (tourist) services in this field from marketing and branding to relocation and Travel, accommodation and hospitality and translator.
Lecturer of Saveh University of Medical Sciences, referring to the role of non-governmental organizations in the field of health tourism, added: “The process in this field requires a coordinating and powerful structure; Of course, the best groups that can pursue the interests of the private and non-governmental sectors in these forums are non-governmental organizations. Transfer the government.
The former secretary of the Strategic Council for Health Tourism stated: The management of the tourism unit does not mean individual and governmental monopoly, this type of management should be formed and play a role in the form of a commission or council including government and private sector organizations and NGOs. The form of a supreme and extra-ministerial council should be formed with the presence of all stakeholders, for example under the supervision of the vice president, although its secretariat can be formed in one of the permanent or periodic government ministries.
Medical Tourism, Nature Cure and Wellness Tourism are the main pillars of Health Tourism; Although health tourism is one of the most important and growing sectors of international tourism trade in the world, but in Iran, with all its valuable and rich potential, this field has been neglected.
A member of the policy council of the Iranian Health Tourism Association added: “Currently, 80% of health tourism in the world is based on nature therapy and health and 20% is based on health and medical tourism, but unfortunately in Iran the share of nature therapy and health is less than 10%. The share of nature treatment and health tourism in the world is $ 640 billion, while the total turnover of medical tourism is $ 150 billion.
The head of the Nature Therapy and Health Committee of the Iranian Health Tourism Association said: “Despite capacities such as mineral water springs and medicinal plants, unfortunately traditional medicine with a long history of Iranian medicine, which is a major part of nature health therapy, remains unknown in Iran.” And targeted retrieval, introduce this area to tourists and applicants.