Malaysia launches drive to woo Bangladeshi patients
Talha Bin Habib | Sunday, 13 March 2011
Talha Bin Habib
Malaysia has built up an affordable and high quality healthcare system over the last few decades in an effort to woo patients from across the globe, said Chief Executive Officer of Malaysian Healthcare Travel Council. Dr Mary Wong Lai Lin said the South-east Asian nation has established 200 hospitals including 17 that can compete with top healthcare centers anywhere in the world as part of its drive to become a major medical destination. "Both locals and foreigners can have high quality of healthcare services at a very affordable cost in Malaysian hospitals. Treatment cost in Malaysia is less than that of leading healthcare centres in Asia and Europe," she said. "The Malaysian health care system maintains very high quality as doctors are caring. They maintain high moral ethics and provide best quality treatment to the patients," she said. Dr. Mary spoke to the FE last week when she was visiting Bangladesh to promote Malaysian clinics to potential patients in the country. Tens of thousands of rich Bangladeshi patients mainly prefer Thailand and Singapore over Malaysia for treatment and medical check-ups. The CEO said Malaysian hospitals have not been as aggressive as their rivals in other countries in South East Asia. But they are as good as any other clinics and medical centers in the Asian continent. "Apart from public and private hospitals, we also have some renowned philanthropist hospitals run by charities. The main objective of these hospitals, such as Aventis and Fatema, is to provide best treatment at minimum cost," she said. Making a comparison of Malaysian medical treatment expenses with other countries, she said the cost of health screening in Singapore is around US$1,200, whereas it is only between $200 and $300 in her country. "The cost of heart bypass in the Untied States is about $130,000, India $10,000, Thailand $11,000, Singapore $18,500 and in Malaysia it is only $9,000," Dr. Mary added. "The treatment of heart valve replacement in the US is about $160,000, in India it is 9,000, Thailand $10,000, Singapore $12,500 and in Malaysia it is only $9,000," she added. She said angioplasty treatment in Malaysia costs only $11,000, which is cheaper than other top medical destinations. "In the US the cost of angioplasty is $57,000, India $11,000 and Thailand and Singapore $13,000." Dr. Mary does not have any statistics on the number of Bangladeshis visiting Malaysia every year for treatment and health screening. Last year 90,000 Bangladeshis visited the country just for travel and site seeing. She said it was difficult to calculate the accurate figure since many Bangladeshis go the Muslim-majority South East Asian nation for business and traveling and later many also do medical check-up. "But not only Bangladeshis, a lot of people of the Middle East and South East Asian countries also come to Malaysia for medical treatment and health check-ups," she said. "Kuala Lumpur and Dhaka have close ties as majority of their peoples share the same faith. Majority of them also have common food habit as they prefer halal meals. These shared bonds draw many Bangladeshi patients and health screeners to Malaysia," she said. She said Malaysia has also opened up its healthcare system to top rated foreign doctors. "About 100 medical specialists of India, Pakistan, Egypt, Bangladesh and some other nations are working at Malaysian hospitals." "During the 1970-80s about 70 Bangladeshi doctors went to Malaysia through government to government collaboration. Now 13 specialist Bangladeshi doctors are working in the Malaysian private clinics," she added.
Malaysia has built up an affordable and high quality healthcare system over the last few decades in an effort to woo patients from across the globe, said Chief Executive Officer of Malaysian Healthcare Travel Council. Dr Mary Wong Lai Lin said the South-east Asian nation has established 200 hospitals including 17 that can compete with top healthcare centers anywhere in the world as part of its drive to become a major medical destination. "Both locals and foreigners can have high quality of healthcare services at a very affordable cost in Malaysian hospitals. Treatment cost in Malaysia is less than that of leading healthcare centres in Asia and Europe," she said. "The Malaysian health care system maintains very high quality as doctors are caring. They maintain high moral ethics and provide best quality treatment to the patients," she said. Dr. Mary spoke to the FE last week when she was visiting Bangladesh to promote Malaysian clinics to potential patients in the country. Tens of thousands of rich Bangladeshi patients mainly prefer Thailand and Singapore over Malaysia for treatment and medical check-ups. The CEO said Malaysian hospitals have not been as aggressive as their rivals in other countries in South East Asia. But they are as good as any other clinics and medical centers in the Asian continent. "Apart from public and private hospitals, we also have some renowned philanthropist hospitals run by charities. The main objective of these hospitals, such as Aventis and Fatema, is to provide best treatment at minimum cost," she said. Making a comparison of Malaysian medical treatment expenses with other countries, she said the cost of health screening in Singapore is around US$1,200, whereas it is only between $200 and $300 in her country. "The cost of heart bypass in the Untied States is about $130,000, India $10,000, Thailand $11,000, Singapore $18,500 and in Malaysia it is only $9,000," Dr. Mary added. "The treatment of heart valve replacement in the US is about $160,000, in India it is 9,000, Thailand $10,000, Singapore $12,500 and in Malaysia it is only $9,000," she added. She said angioplasty treatment in Malaysia costs only $11,000, which is cheaper than other top medical destinations. "In the US the cost of angioplasty is $57,000, India $11,000 and Thailand and Singapore $13,000." Dr. Mary does not have any statistics on the number of Bangladeshis visiting Malaysia every year for treatment and health screening. Last year 90,000 Bangladeshis visited the country just for travel and site seeing. She said it was difficult to calculate the accurate figure since many Bangladeshis go the Muslim-majority South East Asian nation for business and traveling and later many also do medical check-up. "But not only Bangladeshis, a lot of people of the Middle East and South East Asian countries also come to Malaysia for medical treatment and health check-ups," she said. "Kuala Lumpur and Dhaka have close ties as majority of their peoples share the same faith. Majority of them also have common food habit as they prefer halal meals. These shared bonds draw many Bangladeshi patients and health screeners to Malaysia," she said. She said Malaysia has also opened up its healthcare system to top rated foreign doctors. "About 100 medical specialists of India, Pakistan, Egypt, Bangladesh and some other nations are working at Malaysian hospitals." "During the 1970-80s about 70 Bangladeshi doctors went to Malaysia through government to government collaboration. Now 13 specialist Bangladeshi doctors are working in the Malaysian private clinics," she added.