Making a Pitch for Cheap Healthcare in the Philippines

Further Investment in Medical Packages on the Anvil

The Philippines has been quick to recognize the limitless possibilities of medical tourism, and it is sparing no effort to develop its cheap healthcare facilities by incorporating resort like services that are usually found in luxury hotels. Medical packages in the Philippines have been popular with visitors from the U.S. and U.K. in particular, for a while now, and these incentives will help further bolster this fledgling industry.  At least that’s what Joseph Ace Durano, Tourism Secretary of the country is counting on.  According to Secretary Durano, showcasing the Philippines’ medical tourism potential at venues like the Philippine Medical Tourism Congress, Expose and Launch will be a first step toward realizing this goal. In a move that has far reaching implications for the country’s cheap healthcare sector, the Arroyo administration has included plans to develop medical packages in its medium term development stage.

Medical Packages Including Spas: The “Feel Good” Factor

Foreign visitors, always on the lookout for new fangled “feel good” therapies, have been making a beeline to the Philippines for its indigenous hilot treatment.  Hilot, which in the Tagalog dialect means “massage” or “tender caress,” is an ancient Filipino art whose techniques are used to diagnose and treat disorders of the musculoskeletal system. It is a secret art whose techniques are zealously protected by families who pass down the basics from generation to generation.  All this tight-lippedness ensures that the only way to receive an authentic “tender caress” massage is through medical packages in the Philippines.  Durano is convinced that the country enjoys an edge in the fiercely competitive spa market because of its pleasant climate, geographical proximity, and the hospitable nature of its people.

Medical Packages in the Philippines for Completely Legal Organ Transplants

The country has had its share of bad press in recent years regarding the inclusion of organ sale as part of its medical tourism portfolio.  Health Undersecretary Jade del Mundo is quick to pooh-pooh such allegations.  “Health department does not actively promote kidneys for sale or any such organs,” he insists, while in the same breath, acknowledging that if a Filipino wants to donate an organ, the recipient could give what is referred to as a “gratification gift.”  He maintains that kidney transplantation is acceptable unless carried out through illegal channels or by way of exploitation of the poor.  This should reassure those who are concerned that the government is adopting an “anything goes” attitude in the rush for medical tourism gold.

Source: Macon Ramos Araneta, “Durano Makes a Pitch for Medical Tourism,” Manila Standard Today, November 8, 2006