Cebu City, Cebu — Despite efforts to position the Philippines as a preferred medical tourism destination in Asia, the country still lags behind other neighboring ASEAN countries in the regional medical tourism market, an industry stakeholder said.
Oscar Picazo, senior research consultant for health of state think-tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), underscores in a policy note that the Philippine medical tourism continues to get a miniscule share of the medical tourism market even if it offers better prices in surgical procedures than its Asian competitors.
According to a PIDS statement, Picazo said the Philippines is among the top 15 medical tourism destinations in 2010. The country is ranked 11th on medical tourism which has 80,000 medical tourists but tails behind Thailand (1st), Singapore (2nd), and Malaysia (5th).
Thailand has the topnotch position among the medical tourism destinations, with a total of 1.2 million medical tourists in 2010. Singapore meanwhile logged 600,000 and Malaysia with 350,000 medical tourists in the same year.
To improve the country’s status, Picazo recommends the establishment of a coordinating body (council or board) among offices and agencies involved in the medical tourism industry. A marketing campaign for the 21 premier hospitals included under the Philippine Medical Tourism Program (PMTP) must also be crafted and implemented.//
