Philippines Attract Octogenarians En Masse

Already a popular medical tourism destination, the Philippines is throwing open its doors health vacationers from the West.  Government officials have recently spoken out united in their opinions to make geriatric care the Philippines' medical niche.  President Gloria Arroyo spoke at a medical industry conference in Manila recently, urging the audience to boost the Philippines' medical tourism business by offering more geriatric health care options for foreign retirees.   

In complementary statement, the vice-president of the Philippine Society of Geriatric Medicine said that the country should do more to promote geriatric health care, as opposed to focusing most of their energy on cosmetic surgery.  Confident in their new niche marketing, Philippine Tourism Authority general manager, Robert Dean Barbers, told the Manila Standard recently that the number of foreigners seeking cheap health care in the Philippines is rising, and he predicts in the next five years, his country could be "on par if not better than Thailand" in terms of total money earned from medical tourism.   

Lured by Low Cost of Disc Degeneration Repair and Hip Replacements

New facilities around the country are being constructed, attracting elderly foreigners searching for cheap health care.  The Philippine Tourist Authority hopes tourists will come because of the low cost of disc degeneration repair or hip replacements just as often as they have been coming for liposuction and nose jobs.  Barbers says that facilities like golf courses around the Philippines are being upgraded to include therapeutic and wellness amenities as part of efforts to attract older visitors.   

Cheap Health Care from World-Class Doctors

Dr. Francis Decangchon, the medical-surgical director of the newest medical tourism centers in the country, remarked at a press conference that Filipino doctors are "world-class" and emphasize minimally invasive procedures that elderly patients would appreciate.  With baby boomers from the West getting set to retire in unprecedented numbers, all signs indicate that the Philippines geriatric gamble will pay off huge in the coming years.