4th Annual General Assembly Meeting

4^th Annual General Assembly Meeting

7 April 2018 – Antalya – Turkey

PRESS RELEASE

Preamble

The Global Healthcare Travel Council (GHTC) 4th Annual General Assembly Meeting (AGAM) was convened on 7 April 2018 – in Antalya, Turkey – during the 2^nd Hestourex World Health Sport Tourism Congress & Exhibition  (5 – 8 April 2018).

Delegates and Countries represented

The 51 Delegates who participated in the deliberations of the General Assembly Meeting were fully hosted (air tickets, transfers, hotel accommodation and meals) by the Turkish Healthcare Travel Council.

24 countries were represented.

Elections

During the 4th GHTC Annual General Assembly Meeting, the following members, having been nominated prior to the meeting, were duly elected to the posts indicated:

• Mr. Ruslan Guliyev (Azerbaijan) – President
• Dr. Miljenko Bura (Croatia) – Vice President
• Prof. Otar Gerzmava (Georgia) – Vice President
• Mr. Lutz Lungwitz (Germany) – Vice President
• Dr. Alekh Sharma (India) – Vice President
• Mr. Rifat Badawi Al-Masri (Jordan) – Vice President
• Dr. Ahmet Savasan (N. Cyprus) – Vice President

The following were re-elected to the posts already held:

• Dr. Constantine Constantinides (Greece) – Secretary General
• Mr. Yunus Gurkan (Turkey) Supervisory Board President

Appointments

Assembly appointed the following to the posts indicated:

• Mr. Jeyhun Ashurov (Azerbaijan) – 1st Deputy Secretary General
• Dr. Michael Adams (Romania) 2nd Deputy Secretary General

The GHTC 2018 Antalya Declaration

Before declaring the start of the election process, Dr. Constantinides, in his capacity as GHTC Secretary General, proceeded to issue the much-anticipated declaration: Establishment of a Health Tourism Commonwealth – to be known as the 2018 Antalya Health Tourism Declaration (or simply, the Antalya Declaration).

The Declaration aims to encourage and support the establishment of a Health Tourism Commonwealth of Destinations which will, at the same time, collaborate with and compete against each other.

Announcements

Dr. Constantine Constantinides, Founder, Health Tourism Enterprise and GHTC Secretary General, announced that the Global Healthcare Travel Council will be spearheading the initiative to develop and administer an Assessment and Rating System and Awards Scheme for:

The awards scheme (with the Assessment and Rating System as guide) will be administered by the Global Healthcare Travel Council.

Awards will be handed out, each year (starting in 2019), at the annual Global Healthcare Travel Forum.

Postgraduate Education Program in Dentistry

Associate Professor Nikolaos Kouvelas, Member, GHTC Education Committee, announced the launch of a Postgraduate Education Program in Dentistry, involving the participation of the following Academic Institutions:

• Yeditepe University (Turkey)
• Athens University (Greece)
• UCL Eastman Dental Institute (USA)
• University of the Aegean (Greece) – which will be providing an eLearning program addressing the subject of “Cross Cultural Communication”

The program foresees the provision of Postgraduate Education in Dentistry (under the Auspices of the GHTC) to address the needs of Dentists – in the context of Dental Tourism.The program foresees the provision of Postgraduate Education in Dentistry (under the Auspices of the GHTC) to address the needs of Dentists – in the context of Dental Tourism.

Provision of a Remote Patient Monitoring Service

Professor Tayfun Aybek, M. D., Head, Cardiovascular Department, TOBB ETU University, Ankara, Turkey – and GHTC Ethical Committee Member, announced the launch of an innovative Remote Patient Monitoring Service (developed by Professor Aybek and engineers from “map2heal”).

The service, through the use of a mobile device, enables patients to monitor and record a number of parameters (including blood pressure, EKG, hemoglobin, arterial blood gases etc.) after cardiac surgery or a heart attack – and aims to anticipate and predict complications, which can be addressed “pre-emptively”.

Setting the stage for Health Tourism Sector “Leadership Transition”

Sophia Mouggou, Member, Board of Directors, EURODENTICA Specialized Dental Care, Athens, Greece – and a Health Tourism Protégé – announced an initiative which sets the stage for Health Tourism Sector “Leadership Transition”.

More specifically, the Global Healthcare Travel Council (GHTC), in collaboration with Health Tourism Policy and Strategy (the think and do tank) – and the technical support and know-how provided by Health Tourism Enterprise – has taken the initiative of setting the stage for the Health Tourism Sector “Leadership Transition” – by preparing, through a mentorship, guidance and an internship program – the leaders of tomorrow (young techno-savvy entrepreneurs and students – a.k.a. as Health Tourism protégés).

The initiative has been “seeded” with the first batch of protégés – listed in the Policy and Strategy website.

Specific Actions now set in motion

Dr. Constantinides, as GHTC Secretary General, also briefly referred to the specific Actions which have now been set in motion, and include:

• The decision to “domicile” the GHTC (as a Not-for-Profit, Membership-Based Legal Entity) in Istanbul, Turkey
• Clarifying the role and purpose of the GHTC
• Deciding on Membership Eligibility
• Decide on who has the right to Vote
• Imposing an Annual Membership Fee
• Completing the drafted Constitution
• Clearly defining what constitutes a GHTC “stakeholder”
• Putting in place a “Transparency and Disclosure” Policy

Location and Dates of the 5^th Annual General Assembly Meeting

Location and Dates of the 5th Annual General Assembly Meeting will be announced in due course.

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