Patients travel to Singapore for specialised procedures

7-Dec-2006

The number of medical tourists travelling to Singapore from the Middle East for treatment has increased by 20 per cent this year, according to new figures.

Figures show that an average of 200 people travelled there from the Middle East for medical treatment last year, continuing a growing trend that saw an increase of 15 per cent the previous year.

The country has one of the most developed healthcare systems in the world and, while it is already one of the most popular destinations among Middle Eastern patients, visitors from further afield are also finding the trip to be worthwhile.

Ke-Wei Peh, area manager for the Middle East and Africa at the Singapore Tourism Board, commented: "Singapore is at the forefront of medical care and has a world-class healthcare system offering the most advanced treatments by leading medical professionals.

"It is not a matter of cost that leads patients to Singapore but the availability of excellent surgery and medical procedures unavailable anywhere else in the world," the manager added, referring to procedures such as stem cell transplants, living donor liver transplants and advanced robotic surgery, all of which are carried out in only a few countries.