Over 134,000 foreigners get treatment in Belarus in 2023

More than 134,000 foreigners received treatment at healthcare institutions of Belarus in 2023, said Dmitry Kalistratov, Head of the Entrepreneurship, Pricing and State Property Department at the Healthcare Ministry, BelTA learned from the ministry's press service.

Dmitry Kalistratov noted that citizens of 149 countries underwent medical treatment in Belarus last year. “Those were more countries than in the pre-Covid year 2019. Currently, the Belarusian healthcare system has everything it needs to provide quality medical services across all fields of healthcare. The total number of foreigners treated in Belarus in 2023 exceeded 134,000,” he said.

According to him, the demand for Belarusian medical services among foreigners is growing due to high qualifications of medical specialists and the availability of hospitals providing tertiary and quaternary care, as well as due to advanced treatment protocols and new technologies.

The most popular healthcare services among foreigners were cardiology, oncology, neurology, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, dentistry (implantation and prosthetics). “Foreigners appreciate our advanced technologies. Belarus is also attractive for medical tourists because it offers new services. For example, heart surgeries using 3D-printed models of hearts. This method allows avoiding mitral valve prosthetics and reduces the risk of complications by 4 times. There is a demand for innovative treatment for severe pathology using cell technologies in the Minsk Center of Surgery, Transplantology and Hematology. Moreover, foreign patients appreciate the high level of plastic, bariatric and orthognathic surgery,” Dmitry Kalistratov said.

Previously the most popular medical service among foreigners at the Research Center for Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Immunology was bone marrow transplantation. Now this is cell immunotherapy (CAR-T-cell therapy), he added.

The Healthcare Ministry noted that in recent years the share of CIS citizens in the total number of foreign patients has been declining, while the number of other countries' citizens has been growing. They already account for more than 30%. Last year saw an increase in medical tourists from Austria, Belgium, Montenegro, the USA, Israel, Italy, Cyprus, Serbia, Lithuania, Latvia, etc.