WITH the health ministry under scrutiny for the number of Cypriots it sends abroad for treatment, it is perhaps surprising to realise that Cyprus is itself a growing centre for medical tourism which attracts its fair share of the approximately 60,000 UK residents who travelled abroad last year for medical and well-being treatments.

Along with the Middle East and other European countries such as Germany, Greece and the Netherlands, Cyprus offers a whole range of procedures, including cosmetic, dental, orthopaedic and fertility treatments, that come under the umbrella of medical tourism, as well as well-being and wellness programmes. Well-being programmes take a more holistic approach as opposed to medical, offering treatments such as acupuncture, massage homoeopathy, hydrotherapy and reflexology.

In Cyprus, the strategy to encourage tourists for medical purposes has been promoted by the Cyprus Tourist Organisation (CTO) mainly via websites and events. The Health Destination Cyprus 2010, for example, is an annual medical tourism conference showcasing top hospitals, clinics and spas in Cyprus where prospective patients can meet doctors and explore all of their options regarding going abroad for a medical procedure. This year’s conference will be taking place on November 21 in Palmers Green, London.

The procedure to embark on a trip abroad as a medical tourist is a fairly simple one according to Polis Georgiades, director of the Cyprus 4 Health website, one of many that act as a platform for this type of tourism in Cyprus. These websites provide information on the types of the treatments available, the clinics offering them and how much they charge.

After patients have chosen a procedure, so-called medical facilitators take over who provide all the information they and arrange everything from flights to airport pick-ups.

“Facilitators will organise everything from A to Z, for example why you should choose a specific hospital,” explained Georgiades. According to Georgiades, another major part of medical tourism is preventive and diagnostic which allows you to combine your health checkup with soothing spa and meditation therapies.

Any kind of surgery abroad poses one fairly significant problem, that of post-operative care. According to Georgiades this is dealt with through affiliations with other doctors and organisations in the patient’s own country. Georgiades also mentioned that a cross-border health care directive is in the works at the moment which has recently been voted on. The directive will give EU patients the right to receive treatment in other member states and be reimbursed the way they would be if they had the treatment at home.

The question still remains though: why pick Cyprus? Polis Peradikos an employee at the Cyprus Health Services Promotion Board, explained that apart from the good weather we are cheaper than the UK.

“We have value for money therapies and they don’t have to wait on a list,” said Nicoletta Paphitou, a tourist officer for the CTO. “Of course we can’t offer everything, realistically, but dentistry is especially cheaper,” she added. For example, dental implants in the UK cost around 2,000 pounds sterling whereas in Cyprus they cost around 955 pounds sterling. Another very appealing factor is that most doctors in Cyprus have studied in the UK so they will have an excellent knowledge of the English language, which makes their patients feel more at home and secure.

However as Cyprus is still a fledgeling in the area of medical tourism not all clinics have received accreditation, according to Peradikos. As it stands only the Bank of Cyprus Oncology Department has been accredited but there are other clinics and hospitals that have begun procedures to become accredited, such as the American Heart Institute.