Dr. Seyyed Ahmad Hashemi, speaking to Webda, highlighted the province's potential in medical tourism and emphasized that North Khorasan must first transition from being primarily a transit province to becoming an attractive tourism destination. He noted that medical tourism also depends on adequate tourism infrastructure, accommodation, transportation, and convenient access.

He added that transportation infrastructure is currently one of the province's major challenges. For example, Mashhad benefits from extensive transportation facilities, including an airport, well-developed transport services, and flights from various cities across the country. Such facilities are not yet sufficiently available in North Khorasan.

The President of North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences stressed that international patients will consider the province as a medical tourism destination only when they have convenient and reliable access to transportation services. Therefore, developing medical tourism requires simultaneous investment in both healthcare and tourism infrastructure.

Practical Steps Toward Entering the Regional Medical Tourism Market

Dr. Hashemi emphasized that despite these limitations, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences has continued to pursue its plans. Last year, a provincial delegation visited Turkmenistan, where a cooperation agreement was signed and negotiations were held with companies active in the field.

He continued: "As part of these efforts, we are currently negotiating with specialized organizations and teams active in medical tourism and are planning to establish formal agreements with them. Our goal is to facilitate the referral of patients from neighboring countries to North Khorasan to receive medical services."

He added that the aim is to utilize the capabilities of specialized medical tourism companies and establish connections with neighboring countries so that patients in need of medical care can travel to the province and benefit from the healthcare facilities and services available in North Khorasan.

Focusing on Neighboring Countries

The President of North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences described the province's geographical location as a significant opportunity for developing medical tourism, noting that its proximity to countries in the region provides the potential to attract a share of the province's medical tourism market from patients in neighboring countries.

He added that, alongside efforts to strengthen the necessary infrastructure, the university is seeking to leverage the capabilities of the private sector and specialized medical tourism companies to facilitate the process of attracting international patients to the province.

Dr. Hashemi stated that North Khorasan has considerable healthcare capabilities and that the university's strategy is to transform these medical capacities into an opportunity for the development of medical tourism by establishing international connections, utilizing the potential of neighboring countries, and expanding cooperation with specialized medical tourism stakeholders.