Tamaulipas bets on medical tourism to boost development

The Tamaulipas government is promoting the strengthening of medical clusters as part of a strategy to diversify tourism offerings and take advantage of the state's proximity to the United States, as well as its air and land connectivity.

During a meeting with specialists, academics, and investors at the Ángeles Hospital in Tampico, the state secretary of tourism, Benjamín Hernández Rodríguez, outlined the progress made in promoting medical tourism. He noted that a growing number of foreigners are seeking health services on the northern border, which has led to the expansion of this offering.

The most in-demand services include dental, gynecological, orthopedic, and trauma care, plastic surgery, and obesity treatments. General and family medicine, pediatrics, otolaryngology, laboratory tests, X-rays, and aesthetic and spa services are also offered.

There are currently four medical tourism clusters in the state: TURISMED in Nuevo Laredo, the Medical Tourism Business Council (CETUM) in Reynosa, the Matamoros Medical District, and the Tamaulipas Medical Tourism Council in Villa de Nuevo Progreso. In addition, the foundations are being laid for another in Tampico.

According to estimates by industry specialists, users can save between 30 and 80 percent compared to prices in the United States.

The meeting was attended by Fabián Walters Arballo, president of the Baja Health Cluster of Baja California; Miguel Baltazar Arana, director of the Ángeles Tampico Hospital; and, virtually, Rafael Emiliano Azuceno Ramírez, general director of Tourism Standardization and Verification of the Federal Ministry of Tourism.