MALAYSIA - medical tourism on upward trend

Theedgedaily.com, 19-11-2007

“SJMC today receives referrals from the UK on a weekly basis. The momentum is starting,” Thomas said.
“Prior to (1985), people had to go to the UK or Australia for specialised care. Today, there is little reason to refer a patient outside of Malaysia and quite the opposite, people are being referred to Malaysia for nearly every possible procedure needed,” Thomas said.
OBG said Asia attracted over 1.3 million visitors annually for medical tourism and was expected to generate more than US$4 billion (RM13.27 billion) a year in revenues by 2012. “Within five years, Malaysia is expected to bring in US$590 million per annum in medical tourism receipts,” it said.
OBG said while Malaysia was still catching up with countries such as Singapore, Thailand and India, the authorities believed Malaysia could provide state-of-the-art facilities at affordable prices to compete in this growing field.

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