RIYADH, 10 October 2007 — Some 250 representatives from all over the world, including delegates from the Kingdom, will be gathering in Manila next month for the 2nd International Medical Travel Conference (IMTC), the Philippine Embassy said yesterday.

Organized by the Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) together with Avail Corporation, an international events company based in Singapore, the event is slated on Nov. 19-23 at the Intercontinental Hotel in the country’s financial district of Makati, said Ambassador Antonio P. Villamor in an invitation letter to Arab News.

Villamor said the conference is designed for senior-level decision makers involved in medical travel and international patient care. These include CEOs, managers, directors, senior doctors and nurses and academics in the medical field.

According to Director Elizabeth Nelle, conference organizer at the DOT’s office of Product Research and Development, the conference is a first step in the Philippines’ bid to be part of the $40 billion medical travel industry with over 780 million patients seeking faster, less expensive and world class medical care outside their principal country of residence.

Villamor said the country offers world-class health care expertise and state-of-the-art medical facilities at rates more reasonable and comparatively lower than what can be had in most industrialized countries and with no waiting line for much-needed treatments to speak of.

To give a keynote address is Jonathan Edelheit, president of the Medical Tourism Association — USA, who will speak on “The Next Wave of Medical Travel — Employers, Health Plans and Third Party Administrators.”

Workshops will be held to enable participants to understand key issues in designing the scope of medical travel services, and there will be two hospital visits in four DOT-accredited medical centers in the national capital.

The inaugural of the International Medical Travel Excellence Awards (IMTEA) will be held in conjunction with this year’s IMTC to recognize the “Outstanding Medical Travel Providers.”

The first IMTC conference was held last year in Singapore during which the International Medical Travel Association (MTCA) was launched.