Medical tourism is actively developing in Georgia in 2019. Foreigners show great interest in health related programs, resorts in Georgia.
In Georgia, 13.9 thousand foreigners came to Georgia for medical services and health procedures during the last five months, which is 61.2% more than the data for the same period last year, Imedi TV reported.
The most popular range of medical treatment services in Georgia:
- Dental
Dental tourism is not a new, but rapidly developing area of Georgian dentistry. Thousands of foreigners annually visit clinics in the city of Tbilisi and in the regions for the examination and treatment of dental diseases. Statistics confirm that in recent years, the demand for dental tourism has increased by 30%.
- Cosmetic/Plastic Surgery
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported a fall in the number of cosmetic surgical procedures performed in the USA of 6% from 2000 to 2016; and 15% from 2016 to 2019. Concurrently, a rapid expansion of cosmetic surgical procedures occurred from 2000 to 2016, with nearly a quarter of global cosmetic procedures being performed in Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan; from 2016 to 2019 in this list appeared new countries: Turkey, Mexico and Georgia.
- Fertility Treatment/Georgia Surrogacy
Fertility treatment and surrogacy programs are popular medical tourism services in Georgia. Respectful Georgian clinics guarantee legal assistance, the highest quality and ethical standards, personal assistance, interpretation in a wide range of languages, the best price for surrogacy programs, strict rules and regulations, confidentiality.
- Stem Cell Therapy
As stated by CBC Canada, the cost of stem cell therapy is $5,000 to $8,000 per stem cell treatment for clients. In Georgia you can pay 2 times less for the same procedures.
- Eye Surgery
Georgia uses progressive treatment methods, such as cataract microsurgeries (phacoemulsification), corneal transplantation and laser surgeries on premature infants with retinopathy.
- General Diagnostics & Rehabilitation in health resorts
Foreigners show great interest in such health resorts as Borjomi (Samtskhe-Javakheti region), Tskaltubo (Imereti region) and others, said Maya Sidamonidze, former head of the National Tourism Administration of Georgia.
According to her, the flow of tourists who want to get medical care in Georgia is growing every year. These are mainly citizens of neighboring countries. Sidamonidze is sure that Georgia has all the resources for the development of medical tourism, but this direction requires improvement.
A number of factors significantly affects popularity of medical tourism in Georgia. The main of them are geographical factor, positive reviews, cost, quality, familiarity and confidentiality.