.

https://www.semana.com/pais/articulo/cifras-de-turismo-de-salud-en-colombia-en-2018/258532/
https://studylib.es/doc/971208/infograf%C3%ADa-turismo-salud

COLOMBIA
Colombia is a tropical country located in the northwestern tip of South America. Colombia is the
only country in the subcontinent with coasts over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

It shares borders with Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador and maritime borders with
Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti.

Colombia generated a current GDP of US$271.5 billion in 2020, 16.1% lower than in 2019 and was
like that recorded by Pakistan. Colombia ranked fourth in Latin America, behind Brazil, Mexico,
and Argentina.

The primary sector of the economy accounted for 12.9 per cent of GDP in 2020. Among the main
agricultural products of Colombia are: coffee, bananas, flowers, sugar cane, cattle, rice. On the
other hand, the production of coal, oil, natural gas, iron ore, ferronickel and gold is prominent in
the mining-energy resources. The secondary sector accounted for 17.6 per cent. In the industrial
sector, textiles, chemicals, metallurgy, cement, cartons, plastic resins and beverages stand out.
The tertiary sector accounted for 69.5 per cent of the GDP, with a high share of services, especially
tourism dynamics.

According to the Fetscherin & Stephano Health Tourism Index, Colombia is among the top 20
medical tourism destinations in the world.

The health sector in Colombia receives around 20,000 foreigners per year in search of the quality
vs cost of the medical procedures offered by the country and is composed of four basic categories
(curative medicine, preventive, aesthetic and welfare).

Colombia has many excellent certified clinics and five Joint Commission International
accreditations such as:

Centro Médico IMBANACO Cali, Fundación Cardio infantil Bogotá, Fundación Cardiovascular de
Colombia- Floridablanca, Hospital Pablo Tobón Uribe Medellín y Hospital Universitario Fundación
Santa Fe de Bogotá.

Characteristics
  The medical specialty with more international patients is cardiology, according to data
from the Andi, (National Association of Industrialists)
 Visitors from Aruba and the United States are the most common to practice medical
procedures in Colombia.

Exports from this sector reached US$63.7 million by 2019.

ARUBA

It is a country located on the continent of Central America, with capital in Oranjestad.

Together with Curacao and Bonaire they form a group called the ABC of the Leeward Islands,
Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles. Aruba is a country within the Kingdom of
the Netherlands, Aruba has no administrative subdivisions.

Aruba enjoys one of the highest living standards in the Caribbean region. About three quarters of
gross national product is generated through tourism or related activities. Most tourists come from
Venezuela and the United States.

By 2017, Aruba’s GDP stood at 3,056 million dollars.

CURAÇAO

Curaçao is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its capital and most
populous town is Willemstad, located to the south of the island. Although it is a constituent state
of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, it does not form part of the European Union like other
territories under European sovereignty.

Relation of Aruba, Curaçao and Colombia to health tourism.

The Aruban Prime Minister, Mike G. Eman, the Minister of Economic Development of Curaçao,
Eugen P. Ruggenaath, and the Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Colombia,
Joris W.P. Jurriëns, define the relationship between the islands belonging to the Kingdom of the
Netherlands and Colombia in terms of health issues. Being one of the strong relations with
Colombia is the possibility that the inhabitants of the Caribbean islands can travel to the country
to get medical treatments of high complexity.

The second in command at the Embassy of the Netherlands says that the exchange between the
Kingdom and Colombia in health care is not reduced to the care of about 20,000 patients per year.
This fact has allowed Dutch companies to turn their eyes to the Colombian market.

"Health tourism", as Eugen P. Ruggenaath, Minister of Economic Development of Curaçao, also

makes it possible to strengthen relations with other Caribbean countries and Colombia.

The Caribbean seek overseas destinations with leadership in technological advances in medical
procedures that are easily accessible and safe. The main specialties in demand are cardiology,
oncology, ophthalmology, fertility and executive checkups.

The health insurance system provides universal coverage in a service delivery network organized
at all three levels of care, although curative services predominate over preventive services, which
means there are lots of opportunities to get partnerships with different insurance companies in
Aruba and Curaçao.
Behaviour of travellers from Aruba and Curaçao who demand medical treatment services

It is important to note that the demand for health services for travelers from Colombia’s
neighboring countries represents about 30% of the total. Taking into account the importance of
travellers from Aruba and Curaçao, Figure 38 presents the trend of travelers who demand health
services and the figures indicate that this shows an average annual growth of 33% between 2009
and 2014.