M'sia leads medical tourism charge
PETALING JAYA: From the Maldives to mainland China, foreigners are drawn to the world-class healthcare offered by private hospitals in the country, says Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia president Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh (pic).
Apart from being cost-effective, these foreign patients were keen on the transparent healthcare plans offered by Malaysian private hospitals, he said.
Another plus factor for them was the ease of communication as English is widely spoken, he said in an interview.
Last Wednesday, the Health Ministry announced that Malaysia has been ranked as the top destination for medical tourism based on quality, infrastructure, cost-effectiveness and ease of access by Nomad Capitalist, a Dubai-based wealth consultancy firm.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said in a Facebook post that Malaysia's medical tourism sector generated about RM2bil in revenue in 2023, with 1.3 million foreigners seeking treatment in the country.
Dr Kuljit told The Star that foreign nationalities who sought treatment are mainly from Indonesia, China, Bangladesh and the Maldives. The rest are from Europe and the United States.
'We are way more affordable compared to our neighbouring countries and far cheaper than western countries,' he said, estimating that foreign patients seeking treatment in Malaysia would be paying 20% to 50% lower than elsewhere.
'For those from the US, the savings could be up to 70% compared to what they would need to fork out in their own country.'
He said foreign patients seek a variety of treatments ranging from simple health screening to sophisticated interventions.
Dr Kuljit said that being a predominantly Muslim country was also advantageous as it was a plus point for Muslim patients.
'Another factor that has earned the trust and confidence of international patients are Malaysia's strict healthcare standards and accreditation with global medical bodies.
'They are treated with care and only discharged when they are fit to leave the facility,' he added.
However, while medical care is seamlessly rendered, Dr Kuljit acknowledged that the biggest challenge private hospitals face is inadequate capacity for inpatients.
'A shortage of manpower such as nurses is an issue,' he said.
Furthermore, he said restrictions and conditions imposed on private hospitals that curtail healthcare costs can prove to be a hindrance to the growth of medical tourism.
But in the long term, he said Malaysia's future as a medical tourism hub remains bright as the projected number of patients exceeds targets annually.
'I am confident that Malaysia's reputation as one of the leading medical tourism destinations in the world will only continue to grow in leaps and bounds as private hospitals in Malaysia remain committed to delivering reliable, world-class care to Malaysians first and foremost and to the rest of the world,' he added.
Dr Kuljit said Malaysians no longer need to travel abroad in search of premium healthcare.
'However, these advantages are sometimes overlooked by Malaysians and lead to a misunderstanding of the role of private hospitals. There is a mistaken notion that the services offered are medical tourism-oriented and solely driven by profit,' he said.
He explained that private hospitals strive to improve continuously to meet world-class standards that benefit both the local population and medical tourists.
Asked if private hospitals would extend their services to low-income Malaysians as part of their corporate social responsibility since they have earned revenue from medical tourism, he said such initiatives will be further enhanced if private hospitals managed to increase capacity.
'We are happy to work with the public healthcare system and conduct such programmes but we need to have greater capacity and manpower,' he said.
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