Category Archives: Medical Tourism/Health Tourism

Boom Time for Medical Tourism in Malaysia

Posted on June 19, 2015 | Comments Off on Boom Time for Medical Tourism in Malaysia

For as low as US$700, you can have a four-night stay at Kuala Lumpur’s Shangri-La, a city tour, and an “executive health screening” which includes a medical consultation and blood and urine tests. For the same price, you can have a basic dental treatment instead, which features a dental x-ray, some fillings and a treatment plan under Malaysia’s medical tourism campaign.

This was the offer made by Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council representatives in their recent visit to New Zealand. About 2,000 New Zealanders visited Malaysia as medical tourists and the government-run council plans to increase the numbers. This is something it has been aggressively marketing since it was set up in 2009.

Medical tourism increased ten-fold in as many years and is one of the top revenue earners for the country. The country is going to great pains to make sure this sector continues to earn big bucks. Even to the extent of ensuring there is a special lounge for medical tourists at Kuala Lumpur international airport (KLIA) and Penang International Airport.

Latest boost to Malaysia’s healthcare sector

IHH Healthcare Bhd, Asia’s largest hospital operator by market value and world’s second-largest listed healthcare operator by market capitalisation, recently announced expansion plans. It plans to add 3,000 beds to its existing 7,000 beds by 2017 through new hospitals and expansion of current ones, and is also looking for mergers and acquisitions to accommodate the expected increase in medical tourism. IHH Healthcare is 43.6 per cent owned by Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia’s main government-linked investment company.

Last month, a Memorandum of Understanding (Mou) on co-operation was signed between Malaysian hospitals and Vietnamese insurance companies in Hanoi. The signing ceremony, organised by Insmart Co Ltd, saw the inclusion of Malaysia’s National Heart Institute, one of the leading cardiovascular and thoracic health centres in the region, Malaysian private hospitals Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care and Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur, with insurance providers in Vietnam, including Post and Telecommunication Joint Stock Insurance Corporation, Vietinbank Insurance Company and Petrolimex Insurance Corporation.

This means Malaysian hospitals will be complementing the Vietnamese insurance companies’ service and Vietnamese policyholders will be heading to Malaysia for their medical needs. More than 5,000 Vietnamese medical tourists visited Malaysia for healthcare treatment in the 2013-14 period. The figure was expected to double this year, Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council CEO Sherene Azli was quoted as saying.

Another big player in private healthcare and healthcare tourism, KPJ Healthcare Bhd announced plans to increase its revenue from medical tourism to RM90 million this year from RM78 million in 2014 (US$24 million and US$21 million). “Most of KPJ’s medical tourism patients are from Southeast Asia (Indonesia), the Middle East (Libya) and East Africa (Somalia) among others, and they are here seeking our expertise, be it in oncology, orthopaedics, neurology or heart treatment”, according to their spokesman.

Medical tourism dollars

Malaysia recently won the Medical Travel “Destination of the Year 2015″ award, a prestigious accomplishment presented by UK’s International Medical Travel Journal. Efforts are being made to make sure medical tourism dollars keep rolling into the country.

Tourism and Culture Ministry undersecretary Alan Abdul Rahim was quoted as saying Malaysia attracted almost 800,000 medical tourists in 2014, from 770,000 in 2013. Earnings last year are estimated at RM730 million (US$195 million). For the 11th Malaysia Plan period, the income from medical tourism is expected to grow 15 per cent annually, generating revenue of about RM2 billion (US$530 million) by 2020.

source: http://www.establishmentpost.com / The Establishment Post / Home> Views & News> Healthcare> Finger on the Pulse / by Vanitha Nadaraj / June 18th, 2015

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Posted in Health /Medical Treatment For Overseas Treatment, Medical Tourism/Health Tourism, Reports,Features, Statistics, Travelling For Surgery Abroad / Medical Surgery Overseas

Facing Challenges : Medical Tourism at Crossroads between Opportunities and Crises

Posted on April 7, 2015 | Comments Off on Facing Challenges : Medical Tourism at Crossroads between Opportunities and Crises
Advertisements for Korean plastic surgery clinics crowd the walls of Seoul's subway stations and buildings.

Advertisements for Korean plastic surgery clinics crowd the walls of Seoul’s subway stations and buildings.

The medical tourism industry of Korea is at a crisis, as public opinion in China, the number one customer, is getting worse. The risk and the number of cases of serious medical accidents have been on the rise as more medical tourists have plastic surgery in Korea.

Experts point out that no patient at all may visit Korea for medical tourism once the Chinese government puts a restraint on it, because China is a controlled society in various aspects. “This is why an increasing number of Chinese media are reporting medical accidents in Korea these days,” one of them mentioned, adding, “We need to overhaul the system in order to tackle the situation.”

Fortunately, though, the majority of Chinese people still have a positive image about Korea’s medical technology and skills. Korea has a competitive edge in price, too. A laser-based wrinkle treatment costs approximately 10 million won (US$9,065) in China, but just 1.5 to 2 million won (US$1,360 to $1,813) in Korea.

This means the prosperity of medical tourism depends on the efforts of the Korean government to address problems such as illegal attraction of tourists by unregistered firms, hospitals’ direct transactions with unregistered foreign firms and the lack of an organization to represent registered firms.

source:  http://www.businesskorea.co.kr / Business Korea / Home / by Cho Jin-Young / Seoul – Korea, April 01st, 2015

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Posted in Associations/Organisations/Government/NonGovernment, Health /Medical Treatment For Overseas Treatment, Medical Tourism/Health Tourism, Reports,Features, Statistics, Travelling For Surgery Abroad / Medical Surgery Overseas

Turkey sees surge in medical tourism

Posted on April 6, 2015 | Comments Off on Turkey sees surge in medical tourism

HealthTurkeyCT06apr2015

Turkey a strong candidate to become region’s health hub, says hospitals expert

Ankara 

History fanatics, adrenaline junkies, sunbathers and foodies are all in for a treat when heading for a holiday in Turkey, but experts say the nation is also drawing tourists seeking to benefit from Turkey’s competitive edge in medical tourism .

Out of the roughly 40 million tourists who visited Turkey last year, around half a million came for surgical procedures from hair transplants and liposuction to cancer and orthopedic treatment, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.

The number of medical tourists who visited Turkey totaled 414,658, including 86,011 Turkish citizens who live in foreign countries, with revenues reaching nearly $1 billion, an increase of 75 percent in foreign medical visitors to the country compared with 188,295 in 2013.

While the Turkish government spending has been focusing on developing public healthcare infrastructure and treatment, private healthcare spending has been driving much of the growth.

A total of 34 city hospitals are planned to be built for about 30 billion liras ($11.6 billion).

Well-educated workforce 

Private equity investors favor Turkey’s fast-growing service industries, including healthcare, retail and education, because of a near tripling of the nominal per capita gross domestic product over the past decade and a young population of 77 million.

Turkey  provides affordable, high quality healthcare thanks to its well-educated workforce and its location in the world.

The health ministry said that only about 30 percent of these patients received their treatment in public hospitals in the country, the remaining 70 percent were in private hospitals.

Feyman Duygu Oktar, the founder of the Ankara Hair Center, said: “Nowadays, hair transplants have become more popular than in previous years, thanks to higher quality which provides a natural appearance with transparent roots.

“Turkey  has achieved a high level of technological advancement in the field.”

Evolved holiday industry 

And, compared with many other countries, the transplant cost of about 5,000 Turkish liras ($1,929) is a relatively low price. Oktar said most customers come from Europe and the Middle East.

She said: “Turkey’s location, only a 2-3 hour flight from major cities in Europe and the Middle East – and also its evolved holiday industry – are advantages that are bringing in more patients.

“Another advantage is that Turkey does not apply a visa to more than 70 countries, and people from more than 110 countries can reach the country on a non-stop ticket.”

Korkmaz Kıvanc from the Medical Park Hospitals Group said that more than 50 countries in the world defined health tourism as a national industry.

“Turkey is a strong candidate to become the region’s health center,” Kıvanc said.

Big savings

Medical Park Hospitals receives customers from everywhere in the world for organ transplantation, bone marrow transplantation and neurosurgery.

“Medical tourism is not just an economic gain, it also helping improve health services in the country,” Kıvanc added.

People from countries with heavily congested health systems welcome the opportunity to choose the time of their surgeries together with savings of between 60 and 70 percent, which makes treatment more affordable than in European countries.

Mohammed, who preferred not to give his surname and came from Kuwait, said that he preferred Turkey medical treatments due to the lower-cost.

“I saw high quality medical care here. After personal referrals from my friend who had kidney treatments in Turkey, I came to Turkey for a skin treatment,” Mohammed said.

‘Cheap air tickets’

Dilek Sag, a Turkish citizen living in the Netherlands who had dental treatment in Turkey, said health care has a high price abroad.

He said: “We pay €80 for a simple tooth extraction in the EU. It is easy to explain our health problems to doctors in Turkey because we speak the same language. Airline ticket prices are cheap and I trust more doctors in Turkey.”

Sukru Mentes from Germany said: “Around 60 percent of private health spending is covered by health insurance in Germany.

“Patients need to pay only 40 percent but, compared with treatment in Turkey, the price in Germany is still too high.”

“My wife had eye treatment and it was cheaper than our contribution to health care costs in Germany,” Mentes added.

source: http://www.aa.com.tr / Anadolu Agency / Antara – April 01st, 2015

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Posted in Medical Tourism/Health Tourism, Reports,Features, Statistics, Uncategorized

Gallery

T&T looks at Colombia model of medical tourism

Posted on April 6, 2015

This gallery contains 1 photos.

For medical tourism to be successful in T&T there is need for a change of attitude by the people who interact with tourists, when they enter T&T, beginning with immigration officers, Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan said yesterday. Khan, who … Continue reading →

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Medical tourism: new economic niche

Posted on April 6, 2015 | Comments Off on Medical tourism: new economic niche

A combination of ventures that are either in the pipeline or at the planning stage suggests the government is attempting to incubate a new economic niche: medical tourism. If the idea takes shape, it will be an important development in the effort to diversify further the economy. Besides, it will also help to solve the chronic bed shortage problem.

The plan announced by the government involves not only the creation of what it is describing as new medical hubs in Malta and Gozo but also the opening of a medical school by Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Coinciding with the announcement of this plan, there has also been news that Maltese-Italian investors plan to build a 200-bed hospital at Smart City. In addition, it has also been announced that an American company is buying Saint James Hospital whose former owner now plans to open a new hospital in Bulebel to replace the one which he has in Żabbar.

The government plans to involve private investors and the health minister has already announced that at least four international companies have expressed an interest in running private hospitals. The plans for the creation of new hubs are in addition to the building of a new block at Mater Dei Hospital.

As is usually the case in projects of this scale, various matters have yet to be clarified. But the way the government has been talking of its plan gives the impression that it may have already struck an informal deal with parties interested in the project, or parts of it. For the government to quantify the investment needed (€200 million), it must have already worked out detailed plans of the new hospital facilities and services needed. Who made the estimate? The chosen bidder will have to fork out the capital expenditure needed to set up the medical hubs and to run them. The government will pay for the beds it will use as part of its general health service but it is not clear whether it plans to make any direct investment of its own, besides, of course, that involved in the building of the new block at Mater Dei.

According to Queen Mary University of London, the Barts wing that will open on the campus in Gozo, the government “will be investing heavily in new facilities in Gozo in the coming year, including new student accommodation”. Since the government has not said anything about this so far, it is proper to ask what, exactly, is going to be the government’s share.

Describing the school that is opening the Gozo campus as the “Barcelona football club” of healthcare, the Prime Minister said the healthcare sector had a number of problems when his party took office but the government had a plan to address these.

In reality, it did not have any reliable plans at all and the only problem it appears to have solved is the shortage of State-funded medicine.

This is not to minimise the importance of the plans now in hand to promote medical tourism. However, the development of hubs and the creation of a medical environment that will contribute to the provision of medical services of such a standard that will draw people from abroad to seek medical care in Malta may take years to establish.

It would therefore be wise on the government’s part to exercise caution so as to avoid making more mistakes than it has already made in its two years in office.

source: http://www.timesofmalta.com / Times Of Malta.com / Home> Comment / Wednesday – April 01st, 2015

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Posted in Medical Tourism/Health Tourism, Reports,Features, Statistics