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RAK Hospital, which has a hair salon and spa, started treating patients from abroad for a range of complex issues, from neurosurgery to cancer and cardiac surgeries, five years ago. Pawan Singh / The National

Ras Al Khaimah :

It has been 11 years since the northernmost emirate began a project to become a destination for medical tourism. While the sector has grown, with the luxury, hotel-style RAK Hospital receiving about 150 patients from abroad each month, there is still work to be done, according to doctors.

“We wanted to combine the hotel and hospitality concept with medical tourism,” said Dr Raza Siddiqui, head of the Arabian Healthcare Group, which, along with the emirate’s ruler, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, helped to develop the idea of medical tourism in RAK, inspired by Swiss and American systems.

“The idea was that the hospital should also look after the needs of the local population,” said Dr Siddiqui. “In the first two years we focused on this, making sure the local community no longer had to travel abroad for treatment.”

Attracting patients from other emirates in certain fields of medicine remains a challenge. “For people from Abu Dhabi, from Dubai, it might not be the ideal choice to come to RAK for treatment,” said Dr Siddiqui. “To optimise the market, we realised we had to step outside the UAE.”

Five years ago RAK Hospital began treating patients from abroad for a range of complex issues, from neurosurgery to cancer and cardiac surgeries.

Outreach offices in countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Bahrain allow doctors to follow up with patients after surgery is complete and they have returned home.

The 70-bed facility, which has a hair salon and spa, will be doubled in size as part of expansion plans over the next six months, which will also increase the number of intensive-care beds to 36.

“We haven’t yet ventured into cosmetic surgery but it’s very profitable,” Dr Siddiqui said. “The next stage is to focus on Bollywood stars, the rich and fa mous, where they can come and stay in the local resorts, charter planes here, do the surgery and nobody will know them.

“They can be discreet and be in a place where people will just think they’re holidaymakers.”

RAK Hospital’s chief executive and head of surgery, Dr Jean-Marc Gauer, came from Switzerland to work on the project. Being an hour from Dubai airport is a big advantage, he said. “A person from Dubai would be more hesitant to come here than would a person from a country such as Ethiopia,” Dr Gauer said. “It’s a challenge to bring the domestic population here.”

Perceptions of RAK as a destination and a healthcare provider are slowly changing as awareness increases, said Dr Anup Kumar Panigrahi, head of the hospital’s keyhole and bariatric surgery teams. “When we go to Dubai for conferences now, people have heard of RAK Hospital,” he said. “Three years ago it wasn’t the case. Now, it’s on the map.”

About 30 to 40 per cent of his laparoscopy patients come from Dubai because of a lack of such specialists in the emirate.

Dr Siddiqui said a good relationship with the tourism industry, travel agents and tour operators was key to taking the project further. “When we go to other countries, the first people we partner with are the travel agents,” he said. “They play a very important role.”

mswan@thenational.ae

source:  http://www.thenational.ae / The National, UAE / Home> UAE> Arts & Lifestyle / by Melanie Swan / July 10th, 2015

A Filipino cosmetic surgeon has built a new facility that promotes non-invasive aesthetic procedures to enhance physical features, using the patient’s own body fat.

Dr. Alfredo Callanta provides personal and face-to-face consultation with a patient
at Empire Centre for Regenerative Medicine.’

Dr. Alfredo Callanta, a world- renowned plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgeon, is an expert in the field of non-surgical fat grafting for facial and bodily rejuvenation.

With Singaporean partners sinking in at least $1 million, Callanta and his partners established Empire Center for Regenerative Medicine, considered as the pioneer in minimally invasive cosmetic treatments.

“Empire is committed to providing highly specialized procedures to people in and around the globe who have the preference for non-invasive treatments at relatively no downtime at less than normal fees other medical facilities overseas charge,” says Callanta.

Empire, located in the business district of Quezon City, began operations in 2014 and has since then become a go-to place for cosmetic procedures in the Philippines, helping drive the growth of medical tourism.

The facility’s popularity has encouraged foreign tourists to flock into the country to undergo cosmetic procedures.

The fat grafting procedure is the facility’s most popular cosmetic treatment that allows patients to ‘roll back’ the years lost through a technique using their own fat.

The use of fat is also fast becoming the procedure of choice for women looking to enhance their body such as  the breasts or the butt, says Callanta.

“There is definitely a growing demand for regenerative medicine here in the region and cosmetic surgery continues to be an ever-evolving industry here in the Philippines,” Callanta says.

He cites the results of recent studies showing that fat has the highest potential to stimulate the growth of stem cells.

In one of his seminars abroad, Callanta met fellow plastic surgeon Dr. Roger Amar, who created the so-called fat autograft muscle injection fat graft technique. FAMI fat graft  seeks to restore the lost volume by utilizing fat from the patient’s body.

The technique is touted as a very specialized discipline that only a select group of surgeons across the globe are proficient in it, each handpicked by Amar himself. Callanta is the only one in Asia that is able to administer the FAMI technique.

Callanta holds a degree in Medicine from the University of Sto. Tomas and has done his internship and residency at the Capitol Medical Center in Quezon City where he became chief resident for general surgery.

Empire Centre for Regenerative Medicine opens its doors to patients from all
over the world who seek minimally invasive cosmetic treatments.

Empire offers select rejuvenation processes to restore the natural tautness of facial, breast and butt muscles that are normally subject to lack of elasticity and firmness as part of the aging process.

The facility offers butt augmentation via fat graft, which is commonly referred to as the ‘Brazilian Butt Lift’ and has been a procedure gaining fast popularity.

This procedure is more tricky as it requires the procedure to be in proportion to other body parts.

Callanta, a pioneer in facial rejuvenation process, also noticed that traditional facelift which usually cuts off excess or sagging skin is not aesthetically pleasing as observed by more discerning clients.

“The method oftentimes results in stiff and somewhat overstretched look of the facial skin. Our facial rejuvenation procedure is very natural with surprisingly less down time,” he says.

He says Empire clients can undergo a procedure on a Friday and come back to work on a Monday, after three to six hours of non-invasive procedure.

Even young people in teens and young adults have come to embrace the technology of cosmetic procedures to enhance their physical appearance, he says.

“What needs to be understood is that our hospitals and medical clinics are already at par with top-notch institutions in Europe and America when it comes to cosmetic procedures. A lot of doctors, if not most, are internationally trained with extensive experience in their respective medical fields,” he says.

“I have been doing cosmetic procedures for more than a decade now and each patient I have is a testament to how effective, safe, and reliable fat grafting is. The Philippines has so much potential in this particular medical field and we at Empire are positive that the local medical tourism will continue to grow in the coming years,” he says.

He says the Philippines has emerged as one of Asia’s most advanced nations in the field of healthcare. With many countries offering advanced healthcare services, the competitive edge of the Philippines is its lower cost, he says.

“We will soon be the hub in aesthetic medical procedures in the region. I’m quite positive that we have the perfect blend of expertise and pricing that will, all the more encourage people to come to the Philippines and have their procedures here,” says Callanta.

source: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com / The Standard / Home> Business / by Other V. Campos / July 04th, 2015