Changing landscapes of medical tourism in Asia-Pacific region

New Delhi: Medical tourism takes place when people prefer travelling to another country apart from their own, to get medical treatments. Recently, this term mainly refers to people who travel from developed countries to less-developed or developing countries due to low price in medical treatments.

Most of the time, medical tourism takes place in cases where surgical, dental and medical care are required which is received better than their own country. There is also “domestic medical tourism” wherein people travel from one state to the other to receive surgical, medical and dental care. Precisely, patients happen to travel due to the high quality of healthcare, access of better care and mainly affordability.

According to an ongoing study by Future Market Insights, the analysts found out that there is an increase in international patient flow and demonstrable achievements and ever-evolving innovation in developing countries.

Few prominent centres for medical tourism include Malaysia, Singapore, India and Thailand, etc. The study projects that, by the end of 2020, the Asian countries will observe robust growth in medical tourism due to increase in quality services and technological advancement in the healthcare and medical sector.

The study further observes that Asklepios Klinik Barmbek (Germany), KPJ Healthcare Berhad (Malaysia), Fortis Healthcare Ltd. (India), Bangkok Hospital (Thailand), Raffles Medical Group (Singapore), Min-Sheng General Hospital (Taiwan), Prince Court Medical Centre (Malaysia), Asian Heart Institute (India), Anadolu Medical Centre (Turkey), Wooridul Spine Hospital (Korea), Bumrungrad International Hospital (Thailand), Clemenceau Medical Centre (Lebanon), Samitivej Sukhumvit Hospital (Bangkok), Gleneagles Hospital (Singapore) and Apollo Hospitals (India) are the key players in the global medical tourism market, with majority of them located in Asian countries. Amongst these, Gleneagles Hospital has recently made news for its development in medical tourism.

In addition to Singapore, India is also famous for specialist cardiac surgeries. While Singapore is considered as the most popular destination for medical tourism due to its expertise in complex surgical procedures, the demand for medical tourism is also surging in other parts of Asia.

Since 2006, Thailand has been one of the most preferred center for cosmetic surgery. Malaysia offers modern medical treatments and infrastructure along with highly qualified and skilled professionals. The centre also offers economically affordable treatment alternatives as well as favourable government initiatives. Due to such eventualities, the expansion of the global medical tourism market will continue to remain concentered in the Asia Pacific region.