Medical Tourism, A Booming And Lucrative Sector

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 (Bernama) -- Medical tourism is a booming and lucrative sector in this part of the region and Malaysia is doing quite well in it, says vice president of the Harvard Business School Alumni Club of Malaysia, Professor Dr Syed Abdullah Almodzar.
"The migration of healthcare has come to the East now because it's cheaper. It costs much less to do even cosmetic surgery here compared with in the West. Before, the doctors go to the West (brain drain) but now the patients are coming over here," he said.
This is good for Malaysia, said Dr Syed Abdullah, quoting a recent news report which stated Malaysia was getting about RM67 million in terms of income in medical tourism.
He said Thailand would be the main rival for Malaysia in medical tourism due to the liberalism of the medical sector there.
"In Malaysia, the drive will be there. What we need is good management," he told reporters when met after he presented a talk at the Harvard Business School Alumni Club of Malaysia's panel discussion on "The Da Vinci Code -- Human Resources" here Monday.
Dr Syed Abdullah, who is a board director at the Mahkota Medical Centre, said out of 100 patients treated at the private hospitals, at least 40 are Indonesians.
"We cater (mainly) for the Indonesian market. It has increased between 10 and 15 percent last year compared with a year before," he said.
Besides Indonesia, Bangladesh and West Asia are also considered a big market for medical tourism.
According to Dr Syed Abdullah, the market will see continuous growth despite countries like Dubai making a big investment in the sector.
"I think they are spending billions on three or four big hospitals, but when you build things very expensively, the service will cost more," he said.
Hence, people seeking treatment will still be coming here, he added.