The Health and Wellness Tourism Commission of the Association of Guatemalan Exporters (Agexport) became the founding member of the Latin American Federation of Health Business Chambers and Associations (Latam-Salud) together with other countries in the region.
According to the Agexport commission, the objective of Latam-Salud is to promote joint initiatives, create a space for the exchange of experiences, knowledge and the search for solutions to regional problems faced by the health sector in Latin America.
Agexport through the Health and Welfare Tourism Commission, the Costa Rican Chamber of Health (Promed), the Sectoral Chamber of Health of Colombia (ANDI) and the Dominican Association of Health Tourism (ADTS), gave life to the initiative.
Among the objectives of Latam-Salud are the following:
- Provide solutions to problems through the transfer of information between countries.
- Encourage innovation, quality and safety in health systems.
- Create collaborative alliances for the development and strengthening of Medical Tourism in Latin America.
With this alliance, Guatemala forms part as a founding member of the first board of directors of Latam-Salud, in the position of treasurer, whose responsibility is in charge of the vice president of the Health and Welfare Tourism Commission, Mario López.
“We are a conglomerate of multiple specialties in different economic sectors that we help grow and make Guatemala an exporting country,” said López.
High potential
Guatemala has great potential in medical tourism, since during the first half of 2021 it generated US$25 million for billing of health and wellness services.
He added that the sector presented a year-on-year growth of 71% compared to the same period in 2020.
“Another important factor for health and wellness services is that they generate more than 50,000 direct jobs, so making more and better alliances is a great long-term benefit,” added the treasurer.
The important markets for this sector are mainly the United States, Canada, southern Mexico and Central America. In Guatemala, the portfolio of services for the sector is divided into dentistry, 40%; preventive medicine, 16%; orthopedics, 10%; bariatric, 8%; cardiovascular, 7%; ophthalmology, 2%; plastic and aesthetic, 6%.
Fuente: https://codelist.biz/
