Pakistan is working toward an integrated framework for medical tourism that could connect visa facilitation, insurance, payments, healthcare providers and patient protection under a coordinated national system, speakers at the 23rd Health Asia International Exhibition and Conferences said Friday.
The discussion was held during a panel organised by Health Asia in collaboration with the Pakistan Health Travel Council, with support from the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination.
Dr Farhan Essa Abdullah, representing Dr Essa Health Services (Pvt) Ltd and a member of the National Health Tourism Working Group constituted by the Federal Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination, said policy development was extending beyond arrangements for international patients.
He said proposed visa arrangements would cover not only patients but also doctors and technical personnel travelling to Pakistan to provide specialised treatments, as well as insurance companies interested in operating within the country’s medical-tourism ecosystem.
Dr Abdullah also said a national portal was under development to bring different elements of the patient journey together, including visa and insurance-related services. He added that work was also underway on financial mechanisms governing the movement of funds into Pakistan and payments to international healthcare professionals.
According to the speakers, quality and patient protection remain central to the development of Pakistan’s medical-tourism framework.
The panel also discussed the proposed National Health Tourism Financial, Payment and Medical Liability Framework, which outlines four proposed guarantees for international patients: a defined payer, a published and itemised treatment price, treatment at accredited hospitals, and insured protection in case of adverse events.
The proposed framework includes payment routes for self-paying, insured and institutionally sponsored patients. It also proposes regulated treatment escrow accounts, a standardised guarantee of payment before admission, a claims settlement target of less than 30 days, and a dedicated State Bank of Pakistan foreign-exchange code for health-tourism receipts.
Another proposed mechanism is a Patient Protection Fund, which would be financed through a levy on international patient revenue.
Speakers said Gulf countries collectively spend more than $15 billion annually on outbound medical travel, while medical procedures in Pakistan can cost approximately 50 to 70 percent less than comparable markets. These figures were presented during the conference discussion.
The proposed framework targets $500 million in foreign-exchange inflows by its third year and more than 10,000 jobs across healthcare, hospitality and logistics, according to the speakers.
The panel was chaired by Dr Syed Junaid Ali Shah, President of Private Hospitals and Clinic Solutions, and co-chaired by Dr Farhat Abbas, Chief Executive Officer of Aga Khan University Hospital and Health System, alongside Dr Abdullah. Hans Kedzierski, CEO of Novacare Hospital Islamabad, moderated the discussion.
The plenary session was chaired by Arshad Qaimkhani, CEO of the Prime Minister’s Sehat Card Programme. Keynote speakers included Dr Emin Çakmak, founding chairman of the Turkish Healthcare Travel Council and the Global Healthcare Travel Council; Mariya Afsar Nazari, Secretary General of the European Health and Medical Tourism Association; Dr Victoria Chirko of Global Medical Trust Advisory; and Aygen Yenigün, founder and CEO of Healthy in Turkey.
Dr Zakiuddin Ahmed, co-founder and convenor of Health Asia, delivered the closing address.
The discussions highlighted an emerging approach to medical tourism in Pakistan that seeks to combine healthcare delivery with financial safeguards, international patient services, insurance, hospitality and logistics. If the proposed mechanisms are implemented, they could form part of a more structured system for attracting and managing international patients.
