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THE NATURAL beauty of Malaysia and the cool air are the main attractions for all its tourist destinations and areas, there are also many interesting objects to you can find out over while you are there. As we know that Malaysia is one the fastest emerging destinations for medical tourism in Asia, mainly catering for Asian health travelers.
In the early stages of the development of medical tourism, the potential of the health tourism industry is enormous, and the Malaysian government is making the right strategic move in this direction. Medical tourism as is practiced and promoted today is a relatively new concept, although patients travelling far and wide in search for medical treatment is not anything new. Like their Asian counterparts, these countries are endowed with scenic locations, beautiful beaches, world class hotels, as well as a friendly and caring culture. Among the Asian countries, Thailand, India and Singapore have had a good head start in this burgeoning industry.
Of course, the role of key players in advancing the agenda of the industry, namely the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, the Association of Private Hospitals etc, will also be discussed. Finally, challenges faced by an industry still in its infancy will also be discussed.
According to data, Malaysian private hospitals also began sourcing for international patients in response to the financial crisis the country went through in 1997, when local patients could not afford private medical care. Since then, the industry has been growing at an impressive averagely rate more than of 70 percent annually prior to the current global economic slowdown, it’s because the Malaysian government has been very supportive of private sector involvement in the industry.
There are countless reasons why Malaysia is an ideal destination for medical tourism. Unique to the medical tourism sector in Malaysia is that it is one of the few countries in the region where it is promoted by the government. This gives tourists assurance of quality, safety standards and regulations (laws regarding medical care) within the industry.
In developing health tourism in Malaysia. Not only medical tourism, but also health tourism that encourages fitness, anti-aging, also encourages medical scientific. Malaysian healthcare offers specialties in various medical disciplines and conducts some of the most complicated treatments worldwide. Today, the medical care in Malaysia on par with the best in the world; where innovation and international expertise are key.
Among them are developing product innovations and collaborating excellent services for Malaysian health tourism and building the commitment of travel agents and event organizers of Malaysian health tourism concepts. Including improving packaging branding, promoting, and marketing superior services for Malaysian health tourism.
The profile of medical tourists coming to Malaysia is slightly different from other Asian countries. This is because the majority of the patients are from Indonesia, as well as followed by Singaporeans, Japan, India, Europe and others. Malaysia is also fast catching up as a medical tourism destination due to the higher foreign exchange rate in their neighbor country, Singapore.
Malaysia positioned itself as a medical tourism destination about 10 years ago when it launched Malaysian Health Tourism Center (MHTC) under the health ministry. Since then, it has grown exponentially, with a compound annual growth of 15 percent since 2011. Malaysia’s medical tourist arrivals are almost three times that of its Southeast Asian neighbor.
And in the last two years, Thailand has been ranked No. 1 globally for the highest volume of medical tourist visits: 900,000 in 2018 and 1.3 million in 2019. Thailand is ranked 2nd. Most of these patients are from the region. Medical tourism has also supported Malaysia’s tourism industry, which is now the third largest contributor to GDP.
Today the changing global landscape of the healthcare industry is indicative of the fact that the future lies in health tourism. Healthcare of the future will be borderless and it is within this industry that the ground is most fertile for the transformation. Advances in medical technology helps to develop procedures that are less and less invasive yet with higher degree of precision and efficacy.
If we see these days, a growing number of people are discovering the benefits of medical tourism technology, over the past ten years, many Malaysia’s travel agencies specializing in medical tourism have been offering packages to people who want to receive medical treatments abroad. Even though medical tourism is about obtaining medical care, a side benefit of medical tourism is having the opportunity to travel to another country. For some medical tourists, especially those seeking dental care, cosmetic care or wellness treatments, these can enjoy the opportunity to travel overseas in addition to receiving less expensive healthcare and Malaysia is all ready for it.
The Malaysian concept of medical tourism is appealing to anyone who is interested in high quality and affordable healthcare. The medical tourism phenomenon is gaining popularity and the number of people going abroad for treatment increases rapidly every year.
With many medical tourism benefits, advancements in technology and improvements in healthcare standards within developing countries, it is likely that the advantages of Malaysian medical tourism will provide a striking economical solution to many healthcare problems.
The foremost concern of any healthcare delivery system is equity and access to health services. While it is without doubt that the country benefits from health tourist revenue, caution must also be exercised to ensure that equity and access to quality healthcare for Malaysians in general are not affected in our enthusiasm to join the health tourism bandwagon. Malaysia has, over so many years, carefully crafted an equitable healthcare delivery system, and for all intent and purposes, it should remain so.
In this situation, Malaysia hopes that the COVID-19 pandemic cases will show sign of abating as well as in other ASEAN countries so that the regional tourism industry, especially health and medical tourism can move again soon. The move, however, would effectively create a small travel stream that could act as a precursor to the general tourism travel stream for Malaysia, which is looking to its healthcare sector to revive the tourism industry.…hopefully! [traveltext.id/photo special]
