According to the Medical Tourism Association, more than 110,000 foreigners visited the Russian Federation for medical purposes in 2017. With the retreat of the crisis, the number of Russians leaving for treatment has stopped declining sharply, but has not shown significant growth either. As of today The number of Russians who choose treatment abroad is less than 0.3% of those who receive similar medical care in domestic clinics.
In the past year, the number of citizens of China and South Korea coming to Russia for treatment has more than doubled; they actively visit cities in the Siberian Federal District, as well as Moscow, as the closest European capital by territorial location, in order to receive medical care in dentistry, plastic surgery, cosmetology and gynecology (IVF).
"As for Russians, the desire to be treated in Russia has become a positive trend. People are looking for and finding "their" doctors, refusing treatment abroad. Seeing both the technological and professional successes of domestic medicine, our practical fellow citizens are no longer chasing "prestige", giving preference to inexpensive but high-quality Russian treatment. Medical tourism in Russia is developing at a good pace. Today, it is no longer such a spontaneous industry as several years ago. The development of medical tourism is under control at the highest level, and government support is very important. This is not only large cash injections and support for the sphere of related services (a foreigner coming for treatment is also income for a hotel, the consumer services market, legal and insurance companies), but also the "prestige" of the country. Therefore, of course, we expect serious changes in this area, such as the introduction of medical visas for foreign citizens," notes President of the Russian Association of Medical Tourism Konstantin Onishchenko.
Source: trn-news.ru