Category Archives: Medical Tourism/Health Tourism

Spain’s Costal del Sol is set to become an international health tourism hub for patients from around the world thanks to the lower costs and good reputation of medical facilities across Andalusia.

The ambitious project could bring between €250 to 300 million to the province every year from healthcare payments alone. Photo:Saludand/Flickr

Public and private healthcare providers from the UK, Holland, Norway, Finland, Germany, China, Indonesia and Russia will start sending patients to Spain’s sunny Costa del Sol in the next few months, Andalusian daily Sur reported on Monday.

Fundación Málaga Health and Tourism & Health Spain are the two companies behind a deal which will allow international patients to be treated and operated on in Spanish clinics.

They also hope to bring between €250 to 300 million to the province every year from healthcare payments alone.

“Spain has a service-based economy and healthcare is the most highly regarded sector in the country,” Miguel Such, surgeon and driving force behind the campaign, told online newspaper Málaga Hoy.

“We’ve never taken advantage of this. We think it will help to create a sustainable tourism model that doesn’t depend on seasons. It will also bring prestige to brand Spain.”

Such plans to make Malaga one of 55 cities around the world that make a whopping €70 billion a year from health tourism.

The Malaga-based surgeon thinks Spain has gained prominence for its excellent medical system that offers low cost and quality medical treatment to Spanish patients.

“The government has invested a lot in the country’s healthcare, now’s the time to reap the benefits.”

With nearly 4,500 private hospital beds and 42 per cent of Andalusia’s four and five star hotels, Malaga has the third highest number of both private healthcare and hotel facilities in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona.

Competitive prices for treatment and regular flights make it an even better deal for foreign healthcare providers.

“The British market is our first target, because in the UK the Costa del Sol is very well-known,” Jesús Burgos, spokesperson for Tourism & Health Spain, told Andalusian daily Sur.

Cabinet has approved the construction of a US$200 million medical facility in St. James, as the Government looks to tap into the multi-billion dollar global health tourism industry.

Minister of Health, Dr. Fenton Ferguson, who made the announcement in an interview with JIS News, said that construction of the facility represents the first formal health tourism project for Jamaica.

The project, he said, will be spearheaded by members of the Diaspora, through an established partnership with the Government of Jamaica (GoJ).

According to the Health Minister, Jamaica represents the best possibilities and opportunities for health tourism, not just based on geographical location and the strength of the tourism product, but also the improved road network characterised by modern highways, and the first class airports.

He further pointed to the “impressive reputation” of Jamaican doctors and nurses in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, as well as the inexpensive costs of certain medical services offered in the island in comparison to other countries.

Dr. Ferguson told JIS News that the Government is working on creating the framework to support health tourism.

Focus is being placed on developing the information technology platform, he said, “because it is not just giving service, but we must be in a position to be able to take onboard, in a fulsome way, telemedicine.”

He said that arrangements must also in place to facilitate mobility in the use of health insurance by tourists and international partners, who will be coming to Jamaica for medical services.

source: http://www.inewsgy.com / i News Guyana / Home> Other Stories / by Toni-Ann Rankine, JIS Reporter / May 14th, 2013

Bukit  Mertajam , (Bernama) :

The Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) is exploring the untapped medical tourism market in order to take the sector to greater heights.

Its chief executive, Datuk Redza Rafiq said the authority was always looking for ways to expand the health tourism sector as there was already a complete ecosystem in the northern region.

“We have a fantastic group of industry players that help us to grow and continue to innovate as well as evolved by adding greater range of services,” he told reporters after officiating the new physiotherapy centre, LivingWell Physio Centre, at Penang Adventist Hospital (PAH), here today.

Also present was PAH chief executive officer Dr Wesley Toh.

Redza said it was crucial for the supporting industries to grow in line with the expansion of orthopaedic, medical devices and wound care management amid the rising electrical and electronics industry.

He said there was greater demand for medical tourism as more people especially in Asia seek quality medical treatment due to increasing levels of affluence, urbanisation and life expectancy.

“We are in the Asian century and they have the spending power especially the generation Y in China, India and Indonesia. It was an untapped market we (NCIA) are exploring now,” Redza said.

On PAH’s new physiotherapy centre, Redza said it was one of the services that should be expanded under health tourism segment as it was a follow through medical service.

He said the initiative by PAH would contribute to NCIA’s target of creating 8,000 jobs and RM10 billion in private sector investments for this year.

NCIA has been collaborating closely with PAH on a few projects since last year to move the Penang health sector to greater heights

PAH is the second largest contributor to Penang health tourism, contributing 25 per cent of the total foreign patient arrivals in the state last year.

In 2012, a total of RM89.5 million in revenue was generated from 81,031 foreign patients.

Redza said the opening of LivingWell Physio Centre was timely as 20 per cent of PAH’s existing patients come from Bukit Mertajam and the surrounding areas.

source: http://www.bernama.com.my / National News Agency of Malaysia / Home> Business> News / May 10th, 2013