A healthy lure for tourists

Star: PETALING JAYA: Foreigners will find Malaysia an attractive place for healthcare as the country offers affordable and quality medical treatment by accredited healthcare providers.
Launching the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Exhibition 2011 in Hong Kong yesterday, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said Malaysia had many highly-trained specialists with recognised qualifications, mostly from Britain, Ireland and the United States.
“Many of them have been involved in revolutionary and ground-breaking research which has garnered internationally-acclaimed awards and recognition,” he told visitors to the show.
He added that besides state-of-the-art equipment and treatment, patients from Hong Kong and China would have no problem conversing with doctors as Mandarin, Cantonese and English are all widely spoken.
“With a favourable exchange rate, Malaysia has an advantage in terms of cost of care,” said Liow, adding that the country adopted a single pricing policy for private medical treatment where foreigners enjoyed the same rate as locals.
The exhibition, organised by the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) and the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia, featured 17 exhibitors from hospitals and related industry players.
Present at the launch were MHTC chief executive officer Dr Mary Wong Lai Lin, Malaysian celebrity Michael Wong, who was named the country's health care travel ambassador, Hong Kong artistes Nat Chan Pak Cheung and Petrina Fung Bo Bo and Malaysia consul-general in Hong Kong Jilid Kuminding.