ALMOST THREE MILLION TOURISTS visited Thailand, India, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines last 2007, says statistical reports , with some two hundred thousand of them visiting the Philippines in 2006 . Yet, Manila still struggles and keeps up behind said countries as 5th placing newcomer-player in the medical tourism ballgame. Yet, hope springs eternal.
The Philippine government, meantime, with an impending freshly-installed government under Benigno Aquino III, continues to strongly stress the importance of developing this sector as it is perceived as a “strategic tourism niche” for the years to come. The Tourism Department gears up , zeroing in on cosmetic surgery as the perfect pitch to surface in the global market , “now that it has jumped enthusiastically on board the medical tourism bandwagon.”
Filipino doctor Dr. Rolando Cabatu, Vice-President of the Philippine Association of Health Organizations In Medical Tourism Inc., says that more than 200,000 tourists visiting the country in the past years have fueled the economy with an influx of dollars, considering 10 million OFWs also “acting as sales representatives” in their respective work destinations to promote the country’s medical services.
Dr. Cabatu said that this would translate to a minimum of 10 million “recruited-tourists” who can possibly visit Manila as patient availing of local medical services at a small fraction of the price as compared to prices in Western countries.
Medical tourism industry analysts’ observe that Malaysia and the Philippines, both relatively struggling newbies in the med tourism global market, will be strong contenders in the next ten years .
And this early, the Philippines targets its future capture of a whopping US billion revenue share in the Asian medical tourism market from the predicted scenario of the industry , expected to shoot up to being US-billion global market by 2012. “And countries such as Singapore will try to grab a US.8-billion share of this figure and already it is succeeding. “
The figures speak for themselves.
Check out the numbers: according to TravelWeeklyWeb.com , Asia rides high with the most potential medical tourism market worldwide , generating 2007 revenues worth US$ 3.4 Billion, accounting for nearly 12.7% of the global market.
The global clientele is growing in numbers: “There will be more than 220 million aging baby boomers from the West, a large market with declining health —-who will be seeking inexpensive, high-quality medical care most likely in Asia. “
Price Waterhouse Coopers study says : seven percent of the world population in 2007, or 42 million people, were at least 65 years old and the figure was expected to double by 2015. That’s great clientele base for medical tourism.
Meantime, analysts reveal that Japan’s aging market — with its population dominated by the elderly — is touted as the largest client base for the global medical tourism market — and the main focus that Asian destinations like the Philippines can get its hands on — to make sure it meets its US billion target share of the Asian industry’s revenues.
Recent studies by the Philippine Institute For Development studies show that as per Japan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare estimates , millions of worldwide elderly needing nursing care is set to increase to 4 million in year 2010 , and will increase more to as high as 5.2 million in year 2025.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports: “As industry experts see a strong Asian medical tourism market down the line, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.6% between 2007 and 2012, the Philippines can work on improving its facilities for bigger bucks in medical tourism where it is said to be “gaining a firm foothold”.
The reports contend: The Philippines is known for its quality nurses and other health workers who have dominated the medical profession in such developed countries as the United States and Great Britain, reason for foreign patients to get assurance of getting the best in health care. The medical sector is working hard to see medical tourism flourish because they believe that the sector has the potential to address not only economic problems, but also the woes besetting our biggest exports: our human resources.
“Philippine medical facilities may, at this stage, still be building a reputation for service excellence, but they’ve put into place several mechanisms to cater to visiting patients.
Asian Hospital, St Luke’s and Medical City to name a few have set up special departments to deal only with foreign cases. For visitors from the US, the biggest motivation is the cost savings, as patients can receive US-standard healthcare from Asian healthcare facilities and internationally known doctors at a fifth of the price back home.”
Researchandmarkets.com’s figures: “Philippine medical tourism only started three years ago, in October 2005, but has already met sizable success. The overall income related to medical tourism was topping the 200 million USD threshold for the first year of operation.”
“Realizing the revenue potential of medical tourism, the Philippines is now exploring ways to take advantage of the growing trend. According to a Price Waterhouse Coopers study, 24 countries spent a combined .7 trillion on health and wellness in 2002 and the figures should rise to trillion by 2020.”
From NaturalNews.com, writer Mike Adams reveals that yes, this 21st century phenomenon called medical tourism — also called medical travel or health tourism ( “a term coined by travel agencies and the mass media to describe the rapidly-growing practice of traveling to another country to obtain healthcare”) may be good news for Asia. But it’s bad news for the US healthcare industry.
Mike Adams writes: “People will go overseas to get better medical care or a better value on surgical procedures, and the popularity of medical tourism is proving that.”
“If healthcare becomes so expensive in the Western World, and that it’s by far cheaper to buy an international plane ticket and get some medical procedure done overseas, then more and more people are going to take that option and go overseas. And as medical tourism becomes more popular, I think we’re going to see the American Medical Association, hospital associations and maybe even the FDA up in arms, complaining about the loss of revenues for U.S. companies.”
“So in addition to exporting so many jobs from the IT industry, we will actually be exporting healthcare revenues to countries around the world. And these are substantial revenues; we’re talking about billions of dollars at stake. Medical tourism is good news for Asia, and bad news for US’ healthcare industry.”
Adams further writes: “And if you want to have a healthcare system that works , you need to make it efficient. You need to get rid of the paperwork, the fraud and the waste, and have a system that offers medical procedures at a fair, affordable price. Let’s face it: big medicine is big business. And organized medicine absolutely hates competition.”
“Medical tourism hospitals in the Philippines and other countries actually have to meet higher standards. They have to give you such a high-quality experience with such outstanding results that you go back home to the US and tell people. Because when you do that, they know it’s going to be great word-of- mouth marketing for that hospital.”
Wikipedia’s statistical data informs:
“Thailand as a destination for medical treatment has rocketed in recent years and they have the statistics to prove it. Take just one country like the United Arab Emirates for example – over 60,000 of their citizens a year come to Thailand to enjoy treatment. Two of the Thailand’s top hospitals Bumrungrad and Samitivej treat patients of whom 40% are foreign – this kind of high percentage is quite phenomenal. “
“According to the Kasikorn Research Centre, 2005 alone attracted an unprecedented 1.28 million foreign medical travelers which generated revenue of 33 billion Baht. That means therefore, that on average each patient spent 25,800 Baht for their treatments. It was revealed in an article in Newsweek in 2006 that 400,000 foreign patients were treated at just Bumrungrad hospital in Bangkok. This prestigious world-class hospital has an outpatient capacity of 6,000 patients per day.”
“Thailand presently has a free universal health program for its citizens with more than 600 hospitals and 400 medical facilities. Today, Thailand has proudly become a medical hub for patients from the United States, Europe, the surrounding countries, and the Middle East.”
Still, Singapore is touted as ranked close second to Thailand as “more than half a million international visitors visited the city-state in 2006 , boosting its medical tourism industry. Asia is becoming the medical travel hub of the world.”
Meantime, analysts reveal that Japan’s aging market — with its population dominated by the elderly — is touted as the largest client base for the global medical tourism market — and the main focus that Asian destinations like the Philippines can get its hands on — to make sure it meets its US billion target share of the Asian industry’s revenues.
Recent studies by the Philippine Institute For Development studies show that as per
Japan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare estimates , the elderly needing nursing care will be over 2 million, set to increase to 4 million in year 2010 , and will
