Marina Sarruf*
São Paulo – The Brazilian medical-hospital equipment is already recognized in the Arab market, and now the next step is to attract the Arabs to the services that the sector offers. With this objective, the Brazil Health Consortium, established by nine organizations, has been promoting its work on fairs in the Middle East. "Brazil has excellent hospitals and offers excellent quality services at competitive prices. This is our differential," stated the general manager at the consortium, Mauro Stormovski.
The Brazil Health Consortium, established last year in a partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex), started promoting Brazilian medical services in the Arab market this year. Last week, the consortium participated in Arab Health, the largest health sector fair in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and in April the organization is going to return to the Emirate to participate in the International Medical Care and Diagnostic Conference and Exhibition (IMD-IHF).
"We want to show that Brazil is not only (Ivo) Pitanguy (the famous plastic surgeon). We offer other services in the areas of oncology, cardiology and pediatrics, among others," stated Stormovski. According to him, most of the foreigners who seek medical-hospital services in Brazil come for corrective surgery, and not healing surgery. "The flow of foreigners to Brazilian hospitals is not yet making a strong impact on the economy of the hospitals. Our expectations are to have a turnover of US$ 1 million with therapeutic tourism over the next three years," he added.
The Brazil Health Consortium and the Apex have already invested R$ 500,000 (US$ 240,000), of a total of R$ 1.3 million (US$ 620,000), in promotional activities abroad. Apart from Dubai, the consortium has already participated in fairs in Peru, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Germany and Switzerland. "Brazil is being seen as a great novelty on the foreign market. In Dubai, for example, we caused a great impact," stated Stormovski.
Apart from the consortium operating in the attraction of foreign patients for treatment in Brazil, it provides consultancy services in hospital management and the execution of engineering projects for assembly and maintenance of hospitals and clinics abroad. According to Stormovski, these other services were also seen with great interest by professionals in the sector in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrein. "They are countries that are expanding and need consultants. It may even be possible for us to take our professionals to operate in other countries," believes the manager.
Stormovski also stated that the Brazilian hospitality may contribute to the attraction of foreigners to the country. "The good conditions and accessible prices aligned with Brazilian hospitality may attract more and more foreigners," he said. Apart from providing an impulse to health tourism, the idea of the consortium is also to promote exchange between hospitals and Brazilian health sector professionals with specialized centres around the world.
In the medical-hospital area, the consortium counts of five hospitals: Hospital Brasília, in the Brazilian capital; Hospital Moinho de Vento, in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul; and in São Paulo, in the southeast of the country, Hospital do Coração (HCor – Heart Hospital), Hospital Samaritano and the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital. In the area of education and research the consortium includes the Brazilian Association of Intensive Medicine (AMIB) and Zerbini Foundation. In projects and technologies are companies L+M Gets and MHA Engenharia.
Arab roots
Two of the hospitals in the consortium were established by ladies from the Arab community in Brazil, the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital and the Hospital do Coração. As is the case with the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital, the HCor is also developing a site in Arabic to attract new patients from the region. "We are also preparing Arabic versions of the hospital folders for distribution at international events," stated HCor superintendent Antonio Carlos Kfouri.
According to him, HCor already treats foreigners from all around the world, but with the agreement the objective is to increase the attraction of patients from abroad. Specialized in cardiology, the hospital also offers services in the area of orthopaedics, oncology, neurology and preventive medicine. The organization, established over 80 years ago, currently receives around ten foreign patients a month, from Latin America and Europe.
Due to its historic connection with the Arabs, the HCor is also greatly interested in providing services to them. "We must show the Arabs that they do not need to go to London or the United States for qualified services. Our services are warmer when compared to those of developed countries and we offer more competitive prices," stated Kfouri.
*Translated by Mark Ament
