MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/. Russia should focus on attracting citizens from BRICS+ countries, particularly China and India, to develop its medical tourism industry, according to research by Yakov and Partners consultancy.

"Pivotal is the group of countries located geographically close to Russia, which have high potential from the viewpoint of outbound medical tourism. We are talking about ten countries with an aggregate potential worth over $250 bln. Four of those countries are BRICS+ member states. Among these, the largest potentials belong to China ($166.8 bln) whose share is over 65%, and India ($40.9 bln) with a 16% share," director of the health practice Monish Arora said.

Citizens from these countries most often seek out treatment for oncological, ophthalmic and cardiac diseases, according to research.

The second tier of countries consists of nations considered to have low potential but which are still geographically close to Russia. This list includes 21 states, including CIS countries, with a total aggregate potential of around $27 bln. When working with this group, it is necessary to focus on attracting medical tourists mainly from Middle Eastern (Saudi Arabia, Iraq) and African countries (Algeria, Morocco and Ethiopia), Arora said.

Russia is currently ranked 41st in terms of attractiveness for foreign medical tourists, according to the company. That said, medical tourism accounts for less than 0.01% of GDP (for reference: this indicator is 20 times higher in Turkey and 40 higher in Malaysia). Experts expect Russia’s health tourism market to total from $2.2 bln to $7.6 bln by 2030 depending on how it develops.

In order to attract a greater number of medical tourists from abroad, specialists recommend that a revised national strategy for development of this type of tourism be passed. Over the next three years, Russia should focus mainly on maintaining and increasing the flow of medical tourists from CIS countries, raising the quality of care and preparing infrastructure for increasing the number of medical tourists from friendly countries beyond the CIS. Another priority should be to develop services for English-speaking clients to make the country’s medical tourism industry more attractive to foreign citizens, the research said.