RP cashing in on medical tourism boom
A NEW KIDNEY would save an Arab man's life so he went to the Philippines. Not as urgent, an American girl wanting bigger breasts arrived here, too. So did a Korean girl who wanted her eyes bigger and more expressive.
Driven by different medical reasons, foreigners like them have been steadily coming to the country as part of the Philippine Medical Tourism Program started just two years ago.
They come mainly because treatment is much cheaper here than in their respective countries like the United States, according to Undersecretary Jade del Mundo, the Department of Health's pointman on the new program.
Visitors usually seek cosmetic procedures which are mainly available at the Belo Medical Center and Calayan Service Center.
Both clinics fall under the "ambulatory centers" included in the program. They also include the American Eye Center, Asian Eye Institute, and RX Pinoy, a group of doctors involved in medical tourism.
Del Mundo said Asian patients, mostly
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women between 20 and 60, usually go for blepharoplasty to widen the contours of their normally almond eyes. The procedure costs as much as $10,000 (roughly P520,000) in South Korea and Japan, but only around P150,000 in the Philippines.
Liposuction
Also a hit among foreigners are liposuction, nose and face lift, and lasik surgery, a high-end corrective procedure on the cornea. Lasik is only around P60,000, more than half its normal cost abroad, according to Del Mundo.
Life-threatening cases such as coronary artery bypass graft, and kidney and bone marrow transplants are also aplenty, he said.
Heart bypass is worth around P500,000 locally or half the price abroad. Kidney transplant is also much cheaper here at P3 million. Elsewhere, the complicated procedure costs about P7 million, Del Mundo said.
"It's a very promising industry," he told the Inquirer in an interview yesterday.
"It will catapult us to the world stage of medical tourism and it will be a dollar earner. At the same time, it will help stem the tide of brain drain in the Philippines."
Del Mundo predicted that the country would catch up with neighboring countries in the multibillion-dollar global medical tourism industry over the next three years.
Even if India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore started in the late 1990s, it would not be too difficult for the Philippines to bridge the gap, he said. The four countries are the more dominant in Asia in the field of medical tourism.
Compassion, competence
It's just a matter of capitalizing on the country's natural advantages, particularly the compassion and competence of Filipino health professionals, the health official said, adding that command of the English language is also a plus.
"The quality of our doctors and health professionals is very high," he said. "We are very caring and compassionate. We have qualities not found in neighboring countries."
So far, Del Mundo said the medical tourism program has had tourists from South Korea, Japan, and China in Asia, to as far as the United States, and Germany, France, and the Netherlands in Europe.
Kidney donor
Since available kidneys are scarce in the country, foreign patients are asked to "bring your own kidney donor" who is usually a relative or a close friend, according to the undersecretary.
"We don't want Filipinos to be sacrificed in favor of medical tourism," he said.
For serious medical cases, foreigners can choose from five government and five private hospitals being marketed as centers for the local medical tourism program.
They are Capitol Medical Center, St. Luke’s Medical Center, Asian Hospital, Medical City, Makati Medical Center, Lung Center, Philippine Heart Center, National Kidney Institute, Philippine Children's Medical Center, and East Avenue Medical Center.
Global retirement village
Besides the international medical tourism industry, the government is also targeting the global "retirement village," Del Mundo said.
By 2010 to 2020, between 500,000 and 3 million Filipino-American retirees are expected to settle in the Philippines and elsewhere.
"There will be a tsunami of Filipino-American retirees and we should be prepared for that," he said.
from INQ7 - http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=62016
Driven by different medical reasons, foreigners like them have been steadily coming to the country as part of the Philippine Medical Tourism Program started just two years ago.
They come mainly because treatment is much cheaper here than in their respective countries like the United States, according to Undersecretary Jade del Mundo, the Department of Health's pointman on the new program.
Visitors usually seek cosmetic procedures which are mainly available at the Belo Medical Center and Calayan Service Center.
Both clinics fall under the "ambulatory centers" included in the program. They also include the American Eye Center, Asian Eye Institute, and RX Pinoy, a group of doctors involved in medical tourism.
Del Mundo said Asian patients, mostly
Print this story
Send this story
Write the editor
Reprint this article
View other stories
women between 20 and 60, usually go for blepharoplasty to widen the contours of their normally almond eyes. The procedure costs as much as $10,000 (roughly P520,000) in South Korea and Japan, but only around P150,000 in the Philippines.
Liposuction
Also a hit among foreigners are liposuction, nose and face lift, and lasik surgery, a high-end corrective procedure on the cornea. Lasik is only around P60,000, more than half its normal cost abroad, according to Del Mundo.
Life-threatening cases such as coronary artery bypass graft, and kidney and bone marrow transplants are also aplenty, he said.
Heart bypass is worth around P500,000 locally or half the price abroad. Kidney transplant is also much cheaper here at P3 million. Elsewhere, the complicated procedure costs about P7 million, Del Mundo said.
"It's a very promising industry," he told the Inquirer in an interview yesterday.
"It will catapult us to the world stage of medical tourism and it will be a dollar earner. At the same time, it will help stem the tide of brain drain in the Philippines."
Del Mundo predicted that the country would catch up with neighboring countries in the multibillion-dollar global medical tourism industry over the next three years.
Even if India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore started in the late 1990s, it would not be too difficult for the Philippines to bridge the gap, he said. The four countries are the more dominant in Asia in the field of medical tourism.
Compassion, competence
It's just a matter of capitalizing on the country's natural advantages, particularly the compassion and competence of Filipino health professionals, the health official said, adding that command of the English language is also a plus.
"The quality of our doctors and health professionals is very high," he said. "We are very caring and compassionate. We have qualities not found in neighboring countries."
So far, Del Mundo said the medical tourism program has had tourists from South Korea, Japan, and China in Asia, to as far as the United States, and Germany, France, and the Netherlands in Europe.
Kidney donor
Since available kidneys are scarce in the country, foreign patients are asked to "bring your own kidney donor" who is usually a relative or a close friend, according to the undersecretary.
"We don't want Filipinos to be sacrificed in favor of medical tourism," he said.
For serious medical cases, foreigners can choose from five government and five private hospitals being marketed as centers for the local medical tourism program.
They are Capitol Medical Center, St. Luke’s Medical Center, Asian Hospital, Medical City, Makati Medical Center, Lung Center, Philippine Heart Center, National Kidney Institute, Philippine Children's Medical Center, and East Avenue Medical Center.
Global retirement village
Besides the international medical tourism industry, the government is also targeting the global "retirement village," Del Mundo said.
By 2010 to 2020, between 500,000 and 3 million Filipino-American retirees are expected to settle in the Philippines and elsewhere.
"There will be a tsunami of Filipino-American retirees and we should be prepared for that," he said.
from INQ7 - http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=62016
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