Egypt develops medical tourism in Luxor — The Japan Times
Egyptian authorities are developing medical tourism, making Luxor — a city known for its pharaonic monuments — one of its centers. According to The Japan Times, which published a Bloomberg report, the country aims to compete with Turkey and the United Arab Emirates in providing services ranging from major surgical operations to dentistry and cosmetology.
The Egyptian healthcare authority, Egypt Healthcare Authority, has launched the In Egypt We Care medical tourism initiative. This independent state body manages nearly 400 medical facilities, including hospitals, laboratories and clinics. At the Grand Egyptian Museum, the authorities also launched online services intended to make it easier for foreign patients to access medical care.
Luxor and tourist regions
A network of private services for medical tourists is being developed in Luxor, Aswan and along the Red Sea coast. In Luxor, six hospitals with hotel-style rooms offer specialized care in obstetrics, pediatrics and radiology.
Egypt Healthcare Authority Chairman Ahmed El-Sobky said Egypt can combine medical and traditional tourism. According to him, foreign patients can receive medical care and visit cultural and entertainment venues.
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In 2025, the authority's facilities received 13,370 foreign patients, compared with 2,075 in 2022. According to data provided for the report, the patients represented about 124 nationalities from Arab countries, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Expansion plans and risks
Egypt Healthcare Authority plans to add 5,000 medical facilities over six years with the involvement of public-private partnerships. The expansion is expected to cover cardiac surgery, bariatric and cosmetic surgery, in vitro fertilization, and advanced dental care.
El-Sobky expects revenue from medical visits to rise to $6 million in 2026 from $3.8 million in 2025. As of July, nearly 8,000 foreign patients had been registered. At the same time, there is no overall figure for Egypt's medical tourism revenue because patients' spending is distributed among various public and private service providers.
The World Health Organization and the World Medical Association warn that foreign patients' savings can quickly disappear in the event of complications, while the issue of liability in such cases can be complicated. The WHO also notes Egypt's progress in developing its healthcare system, but unequal access to it for a population of more than 108 million people remains a problem.
