21 July 2017: Malaysia medical tourism market to grow at a compounding annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.05 per cent over the next eight years, reaching some US$3.5 billion before the end of 2024- from the Malaysia Healthcare Tourism Council [MHTC] Webpage.
I had a brief meeting with a group of doctors from Bangkok Hospital, Hatyai, Thailand. We exchanged ideas and experiences on managing medical tourist. Thailand has a strong medical tourism industry which goes back many years before Malaysia but we have picked up very well in the past few years with the strong commitment and support from the Malaysian Healthcare Tourism Council.
Statistics on the MHTC web page:https://www.mhtc.org.my/worlds-best-malaysia-medical-tourism-sector-to-experience-extraordinary-growth/ reveals the following:
- Malaysia has some of the best-trained doctors in Asia–and the majority of them were trained in the US, Australia, or the UK. All of them speak English
- Malaysia finished sixth most desirable location and number one for healthcare with a score of 97, Thailand finished in 12th position
- medical tourists arriving in Malaysia have increased on average by 100 per cent in the last five years, the report states the Malaysia medical tourism sector attracted more than one million people in 2016
- Transparency Market Research (TMR), ‘persistent government activities synergizing the medical tourism industry and lower cost of medical services compared to their counterparts in developed nations are boosting the Malaysia medical tourism sector’.