3rd Global Ministerial Summit Breaks the Record in Attendance

Oct. 25, 2012 - PRLog -- “I’m glad that I was able to share and I learned a lot. I learned that I need to continue to come to the Ministerial Summit to be in a better position to support the countries, and I learned in fact many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are keenly interested in medical tourism so, in the future I think these meetings should be a day or a day in a half so we could have a longer discussion,” said Dr. Karen Sealey, Special Advisor to the United Nations, Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organizations and attendee of the Ministerial Summit.

This Summit is one of the only events in world where government officials, health authorities and Ministers of Health, Tourism, Commerce and Economy all gather at a round table summit to collaborate and network on issues  such as; health, tourism, development, sustainability, legal issues and developing partnerships necessary to achieve each countries respective goals.

The Summit was initiated by delegate introductions, opening remarks and a presentation by the Congress host, and president of the Medical Tourism Association® Renée-Marie Stephano. Following Stephano’s presentation, industry experts shared their knowledge with delegates on topics such as:

●  International Investment and Local Health

● Public Private Partnerships

● Healthcare Investment and Development

●  Legal Considerations in Developing Medical Tourism Destinations

●  Wellness and Engagement Programs

· Regional Healthcare Collaboration

● Value Based Healthcare Design and Insurance

● If Disney Ran your Hospital

● International Healthcare Consumer Coalition Lobbying

After the presentations delegates had a lot to say in an open discussion where partnerships were made, problems were resolved and everyone learned something new about developing their medical tourism industry. The networking continued after the Summit with a private tour of the exhibit hall and cocktail reception.

“I think it’s very exciting, and I was very impressed with how many high level people were involved, for me it’s very important to keep up with what the trends are and it’s important to see how medical tourism is being addressed elsewhere,” said Bernard Merkel, Minister Counselor, Head of Food Safety, Health and Consumer Affairs for the Delegation of the European Union to the United States of America and speaker at the Ministerial Summit.