Medical tourism boom takes Singapore by storm

Malaysia, Thailand and India also to ride medical tourism boom, reports Sapna Dogra from Singapore

There is more to Singapore than just being a honeymoon destination. The tiny island of Singapore, having a populace of 4.4 million, is fast positioning itself as a medical tourism hub. Attracting about 200,000 overseas patients every year, Singapore Medicine, a multi-agency government initiative, is strategising to increase the number manifold. The authorities are ambitious of serving one million foreign patients annually by 2012 and generate USD 3 billion in revenue.

The private sector hospitals here are the true centres of excellence known for providing world class treatment and having state-of-the-art infrastructure and the best possible medical expertise, avers a Mumbai-based doctor undergoing training at Gleneagles hospital.

Parkway hospitals is Singapore’s largest private healthcare group in Asia, owning three tertiary care private hospitals: East Shore, Gleneagles and Mount Elizabeth. The magnificent façade of these hospitals are complemented by equally competent doctors and excellent services with world class equipment. Comprehensive patient care and treatment of a wide array of ailments is the hallmark of these hospitals, thus attracting patients from southeast Asia and Middle East.

Incidentally, quite a few patients come from India for liver transplant. Nitin Saxena, who brought his father all the way from Delhi to Gleneagles for a liver transplant, opines unlike Indian hospitals, the services and facilities value for money.

The Living Donor Liver Transplant (LDLT) programme at Gleneagles gets 80 per cent of patients from overseas. The centre, head by world renowned transplant and hepatobiliary surgeon Dr KC Tan, performs both living as well as cadaveric liver transplants. The popularity of the programme lies in the fact that unlike India, Singapore law allows transplants in situations where there is an emotional link between the donor and recipient. The ethics committee within the hospital reviews every case and makes its recommendations to the Ministry of Health, informs Dr Tan.

Stem cell transplant is yet another field developing rapidly on the health map of Singapore. The haematology and stem cell transplant centre of Mount Elizabeth Hospital has pioneered stem cell treatment for patients with advanced cancer tumours. Headed by director Dr Patrick Tan, a world renowned specialist in the field of oncology, cost of treatment here ranges from USD 72,000 to USD 90,000 per person, compared to USD 235,000 for similar treatment in the US.

According to Dr Patrick Tan, the centre currently treats four-five cases a month and hopes to increase this further. Recently, a 12-year-old girl from Delhi underwent cord blood transplant at the centre. Besides treatment, the hospitals offer special clinics for people of different countries. For instance, there are Korean clinics and Japanese clinics. As a mark of hospitality, hospital staff goes to receive patients and their relatives from the airport, make arrangements for their stay and even provide with language whenever required. The efficient and effective healthcare system in Singapore coupled with the breathtaking scenic beauty is the perfect getaway for patients. Other countries can surely try and emulate this model if they want to become the favorite medical tourism destinations.

To address the need and demand for quality healthcare facilities in Asia and Middle East, a specialised trade event ‘The International Healthcare Facilities Exhibition & Conference (IHFEC) 2005’ is being organised by Parkway promotions in Singapore. The theme of the conference, likely to be attended by about 600 delegates and 2,000 trade visitors, is: ‘New Century healthcare: Creating World Class Healthcare Delivery Facilities in Emerging Markets’.

The medical tourism boom is just not restricted to Singapore alone. Current trend of economic developments in the Asian region, higher life expectancies, an ageing population and an ever-increasing awareness of the benefits of the quality healthcare have given a shot in the arm to the Asian healthcare industry, taking it to witness an unprecedented growth.

Countries like Malaysia, Thailand and India are expected to ride the health industry boom in the near future. Presently, there are only 140,000 hospitals serving an Asian population of 3.5 billion. With Asian population expected to grow to 5.6 billion by 2050, the consumer expenditure on healthcare services and goods will increase from US$90 billion in 1999 to US$188 billion in 2013. Malaysia is targeting the Middle East and China to generate a whopping revenue of 2.2 billion ringgit by 2010. These emerging markets prove that there’s immense potential in the Asian healthcare business and it will see a stupendous growth, remarked Ms Tan-Hoong Chu Eng, MD, Parkway Promotions Pte Ltd., a subsidiary company of Parkway-Holdings Ltd. the largest private healthcare group in Asia.

In Thailand, another hot spot for medical tourism, 1.1 million foreign patients have been treated last year alone by virtue of its excellent health services, world-class facilities and competent doctors and experts at affordable rates. Besides, the country is positioning itself differently by offering five star services with holistic approach, said Dr Surapong Ambhanwong, president, Advisory Board in Foreign Affairs at the Private Hospital Associaion of Thailand.

On the home turf, the India’s healthcare industry has been growing by 15 per cent in the last five years. Last year alone, the country received about 1,50,000 international patients for treatment.

The healthcare industry in India is worth Rs 1,00,000 crore and accounts for nearly five per cent of the GDP.

According to a study on healthcare by the CII, medical tourism can generate an additional Rs 10,000 crore by 2012 and will account for 3-5 per cent of the market.

Research has shown that healthcare demand is related to population size, life expectancy and purchasing power, added Tan-Hoong Chu Eng.

According to Peter Kappart, president of the private hospitals of Switzerland and vice president of the Swiss Leading Hospitals of Switzerland, the spurt in healthcare industry in countries like India, China, Vietnam and UAE will make them international healthcare destinations and the growing demand for premium healthcare services in these markets will require five-star know-how.

Demand for healthcare is rising in the Middle East with millions of dollars spent in establishing specialised hospitals and clinics, expanding existing facilities and adopting world class technology in Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman and Qatar. In the UAE, for instance, the government plans to double the bed capacity of public hospitals to achieve a target of one for every 300 people by the end of the decade.

Similarly, the need to replace ageing facilities and upgrade with the latest state-of-the-art medical technologies, planning and development of new hospitals especially in China, Indonesia, India and the Middle East, present excellent business opportunities for companies with products to offer and expertise in management and consultancy.

According to David Campbell, deputy high commissioner, director of trade and investment, British High Commission, Singapore healthcare is an important sector for the UK trade. Investment in Asia is a very important market for the UK. “Public-private-partnerships can play a significant role in sprucing up these emerging healthcare markets,” said Campbell.

sapna.dogra@expressindia.com