DOH launches medical tourism campaign

Health officials launched yesterday a campaign to promote so-called medical tourism in the Philippines in an effort to grab a slice of the multibillion-dollar industry.

In a program to formally promote the country as "islands of wellness," Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said government agencies and private clinics and hospitals will strive to make the Philippines the "new hub of wellness and medical care in Asia."

He said the country was gearing up to compete directly with other Asian countries — including Thailand, India and Malaysia — that are years ahead in the industry.

Medical tourism, which combines both health care and travel and leisure pursuits, last year generated more than $1 billion in revenues for Thailand, India and Malaysia, Duque said.

"We believe that the Philippines can tap into the remaining huge market potential and generate this kind of amount once we take off in the next five years and thereon push ahead," he said, adding that global health care generates revenues of $2.8 trillion every year.

He said "it’s not too late" for Filipinos to catch up with other Asians.

"I think we still have very many worthy qualities as health care providers, and our medical and surgical capabilities are quite comparable, if not superior," he said.

He said the government also hopes the campaign "will be an attractive strategy to reverse the current outward migration of our professionals, prompt new doctors to stay and lure back our health workers who have international training."

Health Undersecretary Jade del Mundo said the medical brain drain, which has seen doctors take higher-paying jobs abroad as nurses, "could bring us to the brink of a health crisis."

As an added benefit, the growth of medical tourism could generate enough revenues for the country to improve overall health care by increasing the number of hospital beds for the poor and making expensive advanced medical equipment available to them, Duque said.

He said the components of the new program include medical, surgical and dental care, health and wellness, traditional and alternative health care, long-term tourism and the establishment of international retirement and medical zones.

The prices of medical and surgical procedures in the Philippines are 30 percent to 50 percent cheaper than elsewhere, he said. A coronary bypass costing about $50,000 in the United States is only about $25,000 in the country, with comparable clinical expertise and facilities, as well as complication and success rates, he said. — AP, Sheila Crisostomo