The Regional Secretary for Health stated yesterday that the Government is committed to developing a structured project on health tourism, a joint effort of the Secretariat for Health and the Secretariat for Energy, Environment and Tourism.
 
Hence, Rui Luís defends that we need a study to "know what we will offer, which markets we will search for and what type of treatment we can offer."
 
The Secretary for Health recalled that this target falls within the Government's programme, according to which health tourism and wellness should be promote in the medium-term.
 
Rui Luís participated in the closing session of the "Conference - Health and Wellness," promoted by the Chamber of Commerce of Angra do Heroísmo. The government official highlighted, as advantage, the safety of the Azores and the high quality of health professionals.
 
On the other hand, he highlighted the necessary conditions to implement a good health tourism strategy.
 
"The accreditation of hospitals is critical and, by the end of this term, we want the three Hospitals and all island health facilities to receive accreditation," the government official stressed, adding that during this period "we will also need to reduce surgery waiting lists."
 
The priority, according to Rui Luís, is to improve the accessibility of the Regional Health Service to the Azorean population in terms of consultations, complementary means of diagnosis and surgeries so that we may ensure the conditions for the provision of healthcare to tourists.
 
 The Regional Secretary defended the need for the Region to "focus" on health tourism offer and the need to create an umbrella entity to coordinate the strategy for investment in health tourism, as mentioned by conference speakers.
 
"The Society for Business Development of the Azores should lead this process by including all other entities willing to focus on this area, namely the Chamber of Commerce of Angra do Heroísmo," said the government official.