Several developing nations are currently overhauling their health services to cater directly to the medical tourism market. Thailand and India, for instance, offer quality treatment at reasonable cost to patients from high income countries.

This is a major reason why so many hospitals in the UAE are seeking international accreditation and also why there was a massive clampdown by the authorities on the number of rogue cosmetic surgeries operating in Dubai recently. We are likely to see this broadened to include all dubious “professionals” in all areas of medicine. The UAE wants to project an image of quality in everything it does, and health care is no exception. Projects such as Dubai Healthcare City make it easier for the authorities to police the industry and maintain a high level of quality.

Estimates concerning the actual size of the global health tourism market vary widely, but what is apparent is a growing enthusiasm for it. The only real data available comes from a study by the management consultants McKinsey, which found that between 60,000 and 85,000 patients from the United States were treated outside the country annually.

The study was limited in its scope and has come in for criticism for not offering a true measure of the industry. However, in its defence, its findings quantify within tight parameters what’s going on in the US. For example, the study considered only American patients travelling to hospitals for inpatient treatments; outpatient clinics were omitted. Yet for every one inpatient a hospital treats there are, on average, 25-30 outpatients.

Yet despite the fact there is little data concerning the movement of patients across borders, there is now a clamour from countries in every corner of the world looking to establish themselves within the market. So it’s the future that really matters. Health tourism has all the potential to become a multi-billion dollar industry, and the next decade will undoubtedly witness an explosion in numbers. This fact buys time for the UAE to lay the foundations for a thriving medical tourism sector.

It will require a great deal of thought along with close discussion between ministries and private institutions. It can’t be the sole responsibility of the Ministry of Health to achieve the goal of becoming a medical tourism hub. The Tourism authority and the Ministries of Economy and Education will also have to play major roles – as will the airlines.

Health insurance companies were originally rather slow to see the benefits of designing policies that offered a travel health care component. Today, it’s very different with all the major firms looking to enter agreements with hospitals and clinics around the world.

Such packages will allow the UAE to compete effectively with other countries, including Thailand and India, where medical costs will always remain cheaper. However, the unique aspect of medical tourism is that patients don’t necessarily want the cheapest treatment available.

It frightens them to hear that a heart procedure that costs more than $100,000 dollars in the US can be obtained for less than a tenth of that in a hospital in Asia. They immediately assume that the Asian hospital must be inferior or cutting corners somewhere, and will look for something more expensive. This will work to the advantage of the UAE.

Medical tourism is not without its challenges. Because it’s a global industry it is susceptible to various political, economic and social factors. Some we know about and understand, such as the price of oil or the weakness in the dollar. Others require more investigation, such as the impact of the mass movement of health professionals around the world.

What is already clear is the push by the UAE to build a system that is at the forefront of this sector. Whether it’s building a city dedicated to health care or attracting pharmaceutical manufacturing to Dubiotech, all of these things will contribute to this chain. It remains to be seen whether the country will become a medical tourism hub, but the next 10 years are crucial to the success of this ambition.

Peter Donnelly is science correspondent for the Life Science Division of IIR Middle East, which is organising a conference on health tourism in Dubai in November