ROK offers health tourism for Bangladeshis
Friday, 12 March 2010
Republic of Korea (ROK) has offered state of the art healthcare facilities in Seoul at a competitive price as hundreds of middle class and rich Bangladesh people go to India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore for their health check up and surgeries round the year.
Sejong General Hospital, a Seoul-based private facility, said in a seminar at a city hotel Wednesday that the Korean government wanted to attract a sizeable segment of patients from Bangladesh through its newly introduced 'medical tourism' programme, reports BSS.
"The cost of the treatment in South Korea would be higher than India, Thailand and Malaysia and almost equivalent to Singapore. However, the service and technology would be equivalent to Europe, America and Singapore," Saiful Islam, President of Korea Medical Tourism Services (MTS) told the news agency on the sidelines of the seminar.
Saiful Islam, an expatriate, said the medical tourism started flourishing since last year after the Korean government eased visa restriction for medical purposes and adopted a new liberal policy to encourage medical tourists into the republic.
He said Korea now offered world class treatment for cardiovascular diseases, plastic surgery and cancer treatment for people from more than 20 countries, including Japan, Russia and some of the European states because the costs in Seoul private facilities accounts at least 60 per cent less than USA.
"The Seajong, the one and only specialised hospital for cardiovascular diseases, has conducted 25,000 surgeries and the survival rate is 97 per cent," Na Young Lee, public relations offer of the hospital said.
She said, "The satisfaction level of patients for Korean treatment is much higher than the treatments in hospitals of Southeast Asian countries".
"Korean medical experts are elite, cost is incredibly low, while the round-the- year pleasant weather of Korea speeds up quick recovery from sickness," Lee said, urging patients from Bangladesh to try treatments in Korea, fifth among world's top 10 countries to have high quality healthcare facilities.
The Sejong Hospital offered a six-day and five-night package for Bangladeshi patients for a wide range of basic check ups at a cost of Tk 150,000 that include airfare, visa processing, accommodation and sight seeing in Korea.
"Going abroad for medical treatment, however, is a culture than a necessity for a particular class in Bangladesh", said a director of a private hospital in Dhaka.
Sejong General Hospital, a Seoul-based private facility, said in a seminar at a city hotel Wednesday that the Korean government wanted to attract a sizeable segment of patients from Bangladesh through its newly introduced 'medical tourism' programme, reports BSS.
"The cost of the treatment in South Korea would be higher than India, Thailand and Malaysia and almost equivalent to Singapore. However, the service and technology would be equivalent to Europe, America and Singapore," Saiful Islam, President of Korea Medical Tourism Services (MTS) told the news agency on the sidelines of the seminar.
Saiful Islam, an expatriate, said the medical tourism started flourishing since last year after the Korean government eased visa restriction for medical purposes and adopted a new liberal policy to encourage medical tourists into the republic.
He said Korea now offered world class treatment for cardiovascular diseases, plastic surgery and cancer treatment for people from more than 20 countries, including Japan, Russia and some of the European states because the costs in Seoul private facilities accounts at least 60 per cent less than USA.
"The Seajong, the one and only specialised hospital for cardiovascular diseases, has conducted 25,000 surgeries and the survival rate is 97 per cent," Na Young Lee, public relations offer of the hospital said.
She said, "The satisfaction level of patients for Korean treatment is much higher than the treatments in hospitals of Southeast Asian countries".
"Korean medical experts are elite, cost is incredibly low, while the round-the- year pleasant weather of Korea speeds up quick recovery from sickness," Lee said, urging patients from Bangladesh to try treatments in Korea, fifth among world's top 10 countries to have high quality healthcare facilities.
The Sejong Hospital offered a six-day and five-night package for Bangladeshi patients for a wide range of basic check ups at a cost of Tk 150,000 that include airfare, visa processing, accommodation and sight seeing in Korea.
"Going abroad for medical treatment, however, is a culture than a necessity for a particular class in Bangladesh", said a director of a private hospital in Dhaka.