Medical Tourism: A Pillar of Lebanon's Economic Revival is an evening panel forum convened by The Health & Wellness Forum together with Medilink Medical Tourism at the Lebanese Order of Physicians in Adlieh, Beirut, on Wednesday 2 September 2026 at 19:00. It opens the second edition of the Health & Wellness Forum (2-4 September 2026) with a focused conversation on one question: can inbound medical travel become a durable pillar of Lebanon's economic recovery, and what has to change for that to happen?
Lebanon has long been regarded as one of the region's most credible medical destinations - a dense concentration of university hospitals, internationally trained physicians, competitive pricing and a diaspora that already returns home for care. The financial crisis, emigration of clinical staff and infrastructure strain have tested that reputation. This session brings together the people working on the rebuild: clinicians, regulators, operators and the consultancy and accreditation side that international patients and referring insurers rely on.
The panel is built around four perspectives. Mrs. Martine Abi Khalil, General Manager of Medilink and CEO of KBP-Biomak, speaks to the operational reality of packaging and delivering care for international patients. Dr. Firass Abiad, surgeon and former Minister of Public Health, brings the policy and system-governance view - what the state must underwrite in terms of quality, licensing and patient safety before a country can market itself abroad. Dr. Lana Zailaa, Founder and Director of BioWave Consultancy MENA & Africa, addresses regional positioning and how Lebanon competes with established destinations across the Gulf, Turkey and North Africa. Mrs. Shyrine Yaghi, Chairperson of Medilink and co-founder of DRAPP, closes the loop on private-sector coordination and the digital layer that makes cross-border referral practical.
Themes under discussion include accreditation and quality signalling for international patients; pricing transparency and package design; the role of the diaspora as a first market; medical visas, logistics and aftercare; partnerships between hospitals, insurers and travel operators; and the workforce question that sits underneath all of it. The forum's motto - Healing lives, reviving economies, building Lebanon's future - frames medical tourism not as a niche revenue line but as an export sector with employment, foreign-currency and reputational consequences.
The session is relevant to hospital executives and medical directors, physicians in surgical and procedural specialties who receive international referrals, health-policy professionals, insurers and third-party administrators, investors in healthcare infrastructure, and consultants working across MENA health markets. Attendance is by RSVP to info@medilink-me.com. This is a policy and strategy forum rather than an accredited clinical course; no CME credits are announced for this session.
