Advertising guidelines for the healthcare sector in
Malaysia may be further liberalized in 2012 to promote medical tourism and
ensure targets under the National Key Economic Area are achieved.
Health minister Seri Liow Tiong
Lai says health practitioners appealed to the government for a review of the
guidelines because they were losing out on medical tourists, "Although
doctors and hospitals are now allowed to advertise their services, there are
certain limitations. We will review this and see how it can further boost the
health industry. Since healthcare travel has been identified as one of the
entry point projects to generate greater income and create new jobs, this will
be considered.” Health practitioners cannot claim to be the best providers of a
particular treatment and are not allowed to use too many personal photographs
to promote themselves.
The government hopes that by
2020, the country will attract 2 million medical tourists a year. In the first
nine months of 2011, 350,000 foreigners, most of whom were Indonesians, sought
treatment in Malaysia. 2010 saw 400,000 medical tourists. Malaysia still
struggles to compete with Singapore and Thailand.
The health minister has told
private healthcare providers to improve their services and facilities in order
to be on par with their foreign counterparts, if not better, “Clearly, our
private hospitals have to improve their quality of service in order to remain
competitive, but I am confident it can be done. Competitors such as Singapore
and Thailand have shown stronger growth in this area and have established
themselves as leaders in high value healthcare experiences.“
As part of recent budget
measures, the private healthcare service industry will be liberalized to allow
up to 100% foreign equity. The government has initiated various strategies to
transform its healthcare tourism industry by marketing itself beyond Indonesia,
which makes up about 80% of Malaysia’s revenue in healthcare tourism. The
Ministry of Health is setting up call centres in China and Indonesia in 2012 to
attract more medical tourists, and is targeting China, Australia, the Middle
East and the UK.
The government has been
supporting the industry with significant investment in many areas, including
the refurbishment of existing hospitals, building and equipping new hospitals.
More hotel/resort spas are opening across the country, increasing from 108
outlets in 2009 to 130 in 2010, as the demand for these resorts has soared.
Malaysia badly wants this niche
market, as medical visitors spend more than leisure travellers, stay longer and
also tend to become repeat visitors. People are starting to go to Malaysia from
the UK, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and USA for cosmetic surgery.
The latter group tends to come for cosmetic surgery and dental treatment, while
Indonesians come for medical treatment. If Indonesia builds the hospitals it
promises, then many Indonesians will stay at home, which is why the country is
urgently trying to seek new markets.
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