Medical tourism growing in Malaysia

31-Aug-2007

Medical tourism is a fast-growing market in Malaysia, an expert has claimed.

In an interview with The Star Online, Dr Chong Su-Lin, chief executive officer of Sunway Medical Centre (SMC), said that visits to Malaysia for medical treatment are becoming more popular.

"The advancement in healthcare facilities has reached a point where Malaysia actively promotes health tourism," the CEO said.

"It is gaining popularity as word spreads about the quality of medical services. The growth is also due to rising healthcare costs in the patients' home countries with lengthy waiting lists and insufficient health insurance coverage," he explained.

Dr Su-Lin confirmed that around 1.5 per cent of SMC's revenue currently comes from foreign patients, a figure that shows a "steep increase" from previous figures.

He also revealed that the centre expects to achieve ten per cent of its revenue from patients seeking treatment abroad within the next five years.

While this figure may seem like a tall order, Malaysia offers much for the medical tourist, including internationally recognised medical quality standards, competitive costs, favourable exchange rates and widespread spoken English.