George Patoulis: “We are joining forces with science and local government to put our country on the world map of health tourism”
The International Health Tourism Workshop organized by the Greek Health Tourism Council – Elitour with the support of Global Doctors’ Hippocratic Institute in Larissa, on Saturday, May 6, 2023, was held with great success, with the cooperation of the Athens Medical Association, the Medical Associations of Larissa and Fthiotis, the Medical School of the University of Thessaly, the Municipality of Larissa and the International Hippocratic Foundation of Kos, under the auspices of the Ministries of Tourism and Health, the Region of Attica and the Greek National Tourism Organization.
The topic of the conference, which was attended by representatives of the political world and prominent members of the scientific community from Greece and abroad, was the promotion of In vitro fertilization abroad. The first session had as its theme, Health Tourism as an internal force of Greece, while in the second session, representatives of the Greek Diaspora and medical associations around the world spoke about the contribution of the Diaspora to the development of medical tourism in our country. As pointed out, the global Fertility Tourism market, is expected to grow at a rate of 30% over the next seven years, from the $400 million valued in 2021.
The President of the Elitour, Athens Medical Association and Governor of Attica Region G. Patoulis, who opened the event, described assisted reproduction, as the sector that is at the forefront among the services that are the “heavy weapons” of Greek medical tourism.
In particular, Mr Patoulis pointed out the following:
“Fertility Tourism is a capital part of Greek Health Tourism. It gives us as a country, victories, and makes us proud. I would like to express my deep scientific appreciation for every Greek distinction, success and pioneering achievement in the science of Assisted Reproduction. It’s the sector that leads among other services, that constitute the “heavy weapons” of Greek medical tourism, as are dialysis, ophthalmological operations, plastic surgery and cosmetology, nutritional medical tourism, dental tourism and many other sectors that are constantly emerging. Greece is visited by couples from dozens of countries, around the world to realize their dream of childbearing. In that point, we welcome the recent legal framework, for assisted reproduction with the pioneering interventions of the National Authority.
In our days Greece consists a reference center and a Medical Tourism Destination, for Assisted Reproduction.Τhis essential success, is also due to Greek distinguished scientists, who was attracting the cross-border interest of infertile couples and having the excellence of their science, as a weapon”.
From his part, the President of the Organizing Committee, General Secretary of Global Doctors’ Hippocratic Institute, cardiologist and Tourism Ambassador Mr. Antonios Polydorou, referred to the important initiatives of the President of the Athens Medical Association, who have played a pioneer role in the development of medical tourism.