Medical tourists are returning to Malaysia and are expected to surpass the pre-Covid-19 pandemic level in 2019. This is with the reopening of borders, quality service and competitive pricing.
The top countries of origin for these travellers include Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia and Japan. Based on data by the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), the number of healthcare travellers showed an increasing trend, reaching a peak of 1.22 million individuals in 2019. However, there was a significant decline in 2020, with only 689,000 healthcare travellers recorded. This downward trend continued in 2021, with the number further decreasing to 561,000. The figure picked up to 850,000 last year, contributing RM1.3bil in revenue to the country.
Industry reports suggest up to 70% of inbound patients are from Indonesia. This is followed by countries in the Middle-East, India, China, Japan, Australia New Zealand and the U.K. In the first 11 months of 2022, Penang welcomed 144,975 international medical arrivals. Of this, 54% were from Indonesia, followed by Bangladesh and India. Penang’s revenue from medical tourism reached RM285 million in 2022 from RM61 million in 2021.
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com
Among the top treatments sought after in the county are general health screening, cardiology, fertility, oncology and orthopaedics, including medical and surgical-related as well as cancer treatments. The healthcare travel industry is on its way to achieving post-pandemic recovery, having reached 76% of its pre-pandemic performance of RM1.7bil in 2019.
The Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia president Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh is of the view that high-quality medical care at an affordable cost is the attraction compared with other countries within the region.
The Government could do more by working with the private sector. Our value-add services must be comparable to Singapore and better than Thailand. We also need to counter India and Dubai where procedures are promoted for potential foreign patients.
It is not just facilities but doctors, surgeons and a whole host of medical/care support. If we present the “right” incentives, we may generate revenues above RM7.0 billion in hospital receipts with spill-over economic impact valued at almost RM30 billion, for period 2022 to 2025. That’s the view of MHTC. For strategic collaborations in key markets, MHTC has established ties in Indonesia, Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China and Myanmar. It could do more with Japan, South Korea and Europe in the list!
References:
1. Medical tourism alive and well, Allison Lai and Khoo Gek San, The Star, 22 September 2023
2. Recovery of Malaysia’s medical tourism sector in the bag, more markets targeted, Cheryl Poo, The Edge Malaysia, 16 August 2023
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