The Benefits of Medical Tourism Brings Tourists to South East Asia

What Is Medical Travel?

There are many reasons for the recent increase in medical travel ranging from cosmetic face lifts to life-threatening heart conditions to a simple desire to promote general wellness through adventure travel.  Those who travel to enjoy the benefits of medical tourism may not have access to adequate medical resources in their home country. Or they may simply book medical travel because their required procedure is cheaper in another country.  

How South East Asia Promotes the Benefits of Medical Tourism

The Department of Health and Medical Services in Dubai has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Health Ministry of Singapore to promote and encourage cooperation between the two regions and help promote medical travel from the Middle East. 

The Director of the Singapore Tourism Board has said that they are always looking for new ways to “ensure that overseas patients who are looking for treatment within our advanced system have the opportunity to access it”  

In 2006, approximately 200 patients per month came from the Middle East and Africa for medical travel. Government health agencies are working to ensure a wide range of procedures are available to tourists.  Steps are also being taken to ensure that the perceived and potential dangers of medical tourism are properly addressed.

The Dangers of Medical Tourism

While there are dangers of medical tourism, many patients are willing to travel to abroad for medical procedures. Given the high quality of medical care, issues like accreditation and certification rarely raise red flags.  Far more harmful are areas like travel fatigue, rushed recovery, and insurance liability.

In 2005 Singapore generated $ 915 million (USD) from medical travel, and this figure is expected to increase at a rate of 8.13% through 2012, helping to turn medical tourism into a $1.6 billion industry for the country.  With profits like these, it is likely that the quality of care will rise exponentially in the coming years.