Cairo - Mina Gerges
The Egyptian government has succeeded in promoting therapeutic tourism, and has used a large number of foreign celebrities who have been interested in promoting the medical tourism file, amid the availability of high-level medical resorts in Egypt in the Red Sea and Siwa.
Egypt's major promotional campaigns have succeeded in attracting many sick tourists from around the world to undergo Egyptian treatment. Egypt has 16 internal and regional sites for treatment, including Siwa Oasis and Halwan, Wadi Mariout, Wadi El Natroun, Menia Oasis in Western Sahara, Amoun Oasis, Ain Sokhna, Cleopatra Waters in the Red Sea and others.
Many football stars visited Egypt to promote therapeutic tourism, most notably Lionel Messi, who attended the promotion of the treatment of "Virus C" in Egypt, and the Brazilian star Ronaldinho to promote the same treatment, who announced the launch of a therapeutic institution in Egypt, former Real Madrid star Michel Salgado, Brazilian star Roberto Carlos and former Barcelona star Deco have also arrived to promote medical tourism in Egypt.
In cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism is seeking to issue books for Egyptians living abroad, in Arabic, French and English, to promote medical tourism. The medical tourism season in Siwa Oasis, begins in July and until the end of September, which visited by many patients annually from all over the world. The number of patients who came to Siwa last year for treatment is 5500 Person.
Sinai Peninsula is the world's largest herbal pharmacy, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which confirmed that Sinai contains hundreds of species of rare herbs, which attracted international drug companies.
St. Catherine area has 472 species of herbs and medicinal plants, 42 of which are rare plants. These herbs treat many diseases, such as the herb "Henida", which contributes to the elimination of stones and salts and gout, and the herb, "Samoa", which helps in the treatment of diabetes and the expulsion of toxins, as well as hundreds of other herbs.
The chairman of the Swedish Investment Association, Eng. Kadri Al-Najjar, announced that he met with a number of investors, including the adviser Mamdouh Hafez, the head of a number of companies in Matruh, in the context of studying the possibility of establishing investments by some Swedish-Polish companies in Siwa, especially in the field of medical tourism. Al-Najjar said that Sweden is one of the largest countries investing in medical tourism, and is coordinating with eight major companies to enter the Egyptian market.