The Health Minister, Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam gave credit to the boom in the country’s medical tourism sector through strategic investments on good medical facilities and competitive rates compared to other parts of the world.
“Medical tourism has benefited the Government in terms of foreign direct investments and also spin-off effects in the hotel and shopping sectors,” he said.
The index, which was recently released by the Baltimore-based magazine, praised Malaysia’s healthcare, which scored 95 out of a possible 100 points, as the medical expertise of Malaysian healthcare practitioners is “equal to or better than what it is in most Western countries” according to InternationalLiving.com’s Asia correspondent Keith Hockton.
The top two countries, France and Uruguay, scored 97 and 96 points respectively.
On the methodology of the index’s ratings, the magazine said both the cost and quality of healthcare were evaluated.
Another report in International Medical Travel Journal News reported that medical tourism receipts in Malaysia from foreign patients totalled RM509.77mil in 2011 involving 578,403 patients.
Dr Subramaniam added that Malaysia remained competitive with players like Singapore and Thailand and the focus was to consolidate the country’s position.
He said the key towards improving the overall healthcare sector would be to focus on the preventive and primary healthcare divisions.
Source: theSTAR 11-02-2014
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