Wellness paradise found

Leg cramps on Tuesday, a sprained ankle on Wednesday, and mild diarrhea on Thursday. These were the woes that affected three of the five — yes, only five — members of the Philippine contingent to the recently concluded health tourism conference in Malaysia. Well, as they say, experience is the best teacher and what a way to experience Malaysia’s health tourism offering firsthand! Certainly, it gave us an idea of how serious this country of 25 million people is in giving quality healthcare service.

It was a bit of a dilemma writing this piece. On one hand, our nationalistic spirit and patriotic pride wanted to turn a blind eye to the sorry state of our country’s own health tourism offerings (if there is even any, that is). On the other, our eyes couldn’t help but widen — with gaping jaws in some instances — upon seeing what Malaysia is offering to the world as regards wellness. But we figured, hey, this should be a good eye-opener to leaders in both government and the medical field of our country as far as making the right moves and determining a particular niche as far as health tourism is concerned.

"Blame" it on the economic crisis in the late ‘90s and the growing demand in the health tourism market that Malaysia is now poised to follow in the footsteps of Singapore and Thailand, and even India, and make a strong impact on people desperately wanting to avail themselves of competitively-priced health care packages.

And there is, indeed, a market for this. At the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia Healthcare Conference 2005 and International Healthcare Expo 2005, Prof. Christopher O’Brien of the University of Nottingham cited a 2003 Datamonitor study that reveals that private healthcare is worth about $299 billion. Definitely, nothing to pooh-pooh about.

Seeing its vast potential, the government of Malaysia, in cooperation with private hospitals, thought of entering this field. It should be easy enough since they already have a booming tourism industry. APHM committee on health tourism chairman Dato’ Dr. K. Kulaveerasingam noted that Malaysia earned RM29.7 billion last year from the tourism industry, which translates to about 15 million tourist arrivals. It’s the second highest foreign exchange earner after electronics export.

Poor domestic healthcare and high costs for treatment in their respective countries are driving these foreign tourists to look for the fountain of well-being elsewhere and from the looks of it, Malaysia seems to be taking on a "lost horizon" image. Why not, this country is offering as much as half the original cost of treatment for, say, heart disease or physical therapy, with a bit of sightseeing and shopping on the side to boot!

So far, Indonesia leads the pack with 72 percent tourists availing themselves of Malaysia’s health tourism packages, followed by a mish-mash of countries with 16 percent. Japan comes next at five percent, India at four percent and Europe, three percent. According to an Arthur Andersen study, Malaysia could earn RM2.2 billion in health tourism revenues by 2010.

Proponents of Malaysia’s health tourism are confident that they will be able to pull this huge project off. For one, most private hospitals have an English-speaking staff, a must if they want to attract the ailing international community. Second, they are proud of the fact that their country has — sigh — a stable political climate. They want their sick tourists to get well, not kidnapped or caught up in monstrous, traffic-choked rallies. Malaysia has 224 hospitals and at the moment, 35 private hospitals are marketing healthcare services to foreign patients. However, only 15 have ISO accreditation. With more awareness about this type of tourist "attraction", more hospitals will be awarded their respective certifications in no time.

"One of the criteria is that a hospital has to have at least 100 beds. Our closest competitors in this field are Thailand, which is popular for its traditional and contemporary resort spa packages, and Singapore, known for its well-established infrastructure for health tourism," offers Kulaveerasingam.

A 2004 survey on 25 private hospitals showed that 174,189 tourists availed themselves of Malaysia’s health tourism packages, which resulted in RM104.9 million revenues. Among the most popular packages are medical screening, cosmetic, dental, eye and fertility treatment packages. These treatments can be had together with beauty care, spa treatments and massages courtesy of the Malaysian Spa Association. Some packages even include hotel accommodation and free transportation to and from the airport.

A cursory glance at the brochures displayed at the International Health Expo 2005 revealed a variety of health packages suited to every budget and need. For example, the Holiday Villa Subang’s Health Vacation Package costs $386 (P21,616) per single room. This is inclusive of three nights accommodation in a deluxe room, free buffet breakfasts, one complimentary buffet dinner, two-way airport transfer, complimentary fruit basket and an Executive Screening Program Consultant Package at one of Malaysia’s leading medical centers, the Subang Jaya Medical Center. The Consultant Package includes a health questionnaire, physical exam by a specialist doctor, General Screening Profile (i.e. blood sugar level, liver function, kidney function, lipid profile, hepatitis B screening, venereal disease, blood group ABO/Rh, blood diseases and urinalysis), chest x-ray, ESP medical report, Pulmonary Lung Function Test and Resting Electrocardiogram.

In an indirect way, the Filipino delegate who sprained her ankle got to try health tourism in action. Immediately after her accident, she was sent to the hospital, underwent an x-ray and had a series of therapy sessions for two days. She was also fetched to and from the hospital and the hotel. Add to that was the personalized care she got from the hotel and hospital staff, as well as from her hosts. Needless to say, she went home a grateful soul – and in one piece.

Childless couples have also began trooping to Malaysia after hearing of the success rate of an 11-year-old fertility center. The Damansara Women’s Specialist Center is getting a lot of attention with its high in-vitro fertilization success rate based on the number of delivery rate per embryo transfer, which is pegged at 41 percent. This is way above the success rates of IVF centers in Singapore which, according to studies, has anywhere from 16 to 28 percent only. It’s also proud of its 54.3 percent clinical pregnancy rate per embryo transfer. Meanwhile, the number of "take home" babies per embryo transfer is 64.8 percent. This puts the Damansara fertility center among the best in the world. According to its figures, the center also produced around 200 sets of twins and triplets so far, the highest produced in Malaysia. Among its many firsts are: first IVF surrogate baby in Malaysia and Singapore; Malaysia’s first frozen embryo baby, Malaysia’s first freeze thaw blastocyst baby; Malaysia and Singapore’s first designer baby (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis), among others.

And the cost? "We are 30 to 40 percent cheaper than Singapore in IVF treatment, with average cost ranging from $3,500 to $4,500," says Damansara Fertility Center group administrative director Wenddi-Anne Chong.

The point in all this is that Malaysia gives people a choice when it comes to their health, at a less stressful environment and much cheaper cost. Gone are the days when patients dread a trip to the hospital for a mere check-up. These days, hospitals neither look like hospitals nor do they smell like one. During several visits to different hospitals in Kuala Lumpur (Ampang Puteri Specialist Center and National Heart Institute) and Penang (Island Hospital, Gleneagles Medical Center and the Loh Guan Lye Specialists Center), everyone noted how private hospitals made an effort to lessen, take out the patients’ trauma when visiting hospitals. Why, even visits to the dentists at DentalPro in Kuala Lumpur would be a very pleasant experience with its garden spa-like setting. The same vacation feel is experienced by patients of Beautiful Holidays in Penang, which offers cosmetic surgery for foreign tourists. Not only are the patients given personalized care at a lesser cost, they can also recuperate under the shade of a coconut tree, overlooking either the beach or a swimming pool, and enjoy some peace and quiet in private.

Children patients, in particular, will be amazed at the theme-park atmosphere of these hospitals. One pediatrics ward had an "Under the Sea" theme and had giant jellyfish and seahorse figures displayed at the nurses’ station, shark puppets hanging from the ceiling, starfish paintings along the corridors and schools of fish plastered on the walls. Another had a Jurassic Park setting with a baby brontosaurus hanging around the nurses’ station. Still another had a huge painting of the Care Bears welcoming patients when they enter the ward.

Clearly, Malaysia’s health tourism is geared towards the "wellness paradigm." Apparently for many doctors here, prevention is better than cure. Now, the medical community, including the patients, is adopting the holistic approach towards wellness. Apart from having these comprehensive checkups, patients are getting interested in the non-mainstream approach to well-being. Thus, spa treatments and alternative methods of healing, such as reflexology, are being included in the medical tourism package. Ancient Chinese healing methods and Indian ayurvedic medicine are being looked at to complement contemporary treatment methods.

While the trend is to combine traditional and contemporary medicine, Kulaveerasingam cautions that "proper guidelines in preventive and wellness programs must be observed and that curative claims from traditional medicine "must be evidence-based."

If Thailand is known the world over as a resort spa destination and Singapore is making waves in advance surgery for twin separation, how will Malaysia market itself to premium markets such as the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, Taiwan, and the Middle East? This is what Malaysia’s health sector is looking into. It’s too early to tell since Malaysia’s health tourism program is still in its infancy.

PDQ Group managing director Tony Heneberry in his talk about "brand specialization," however, cautioned against getting caught up in technology. "There is a great risk in using technology in developing a brand around technology. It’s so easy for Singapore and Thailand to come out with more innovation and when that happens, your brand is gone," he says.

From what we have observed, Malaysia’s health tourism is working towards a comprehensive way of caring for its patients – from the healing of the body using the latest technology, to the restoration of a sound mind through its relaxing, stress-free and cost-effective packages, to the rejuvenation of the soul (a much-needed escape to a tropical hideaway is certainly a salve for a tired spirit, right?). Our motley group composed of Bukidnon-based Valencia Sanitarium and Hospital medical director Dr. Miriam Ruth dela Calzada, Health Solutions Corporation president and CEO Alma Rita Jimenez, Jesus Delgado Memorial Hospital president and administrator Violeta Delgado-Cojuangco, and Sunstar Cebu’s Kristin Aldana-Lim could only agree that Malaysia certainly has the means and is, in fact, ready to promote health tourism to the world. It’s not surprising since its government prioritizes health and education above all other concerns. Health is wealth, not only for patients, but also for the whole country and its people... literally.