News From : DagangHalal.com (06 Mar 2010)
Bandar Seri Begawan – Malaysia is keen on exploring the possibilities of promoting medical tourism here in Brunei, said an executive from the Malaysian Ministry of Health.
“In 2008, we had about 370,000 foreign medical tourists so that actually speaks a lot of the number of tourists who based their trust in Malaysian healthcare services,” said Dato’ Ooi Say Oman, CEO of Malaysian Healthcare Travel Council at the Ministry of Health in an interview with The Brunei Times.
He is currently in the Sultanate for the three-day Malaysia Showcase at International Convention Centre in Berakas which focuses on, among others, Malaysia healthcare.
“We hope we would have the opportunity to discuss this with the Bruneian government so we can look at Malaysian hospitals as an option,” said the CEO who is looking forward to meeting Bruneian officials from the health ministry to explore the opportunities of establishing an understanding between the two countries similar to the one that Brunei shares with Singapore.
Dato’ Ooi said that even Singaporeans could now also go to Malaysia for their medical needs.
Recently, the Singapore government has made an announcement allowing Singaporeans to use their “meditax” which is their national insurance to pay for healthcare. “This would allow them to go to Malaysian hospitals which are referred through Singaporean facilities. It is an initiative taken by the Singaporean government and of course we have indicated our interest for it,” he said.
When it comes to quality of health services, Malaysia is a destination which offers competitive price range for its many healthcare packages when compared to other countries in the region. “I think it’s more than just the price.
The patients who come want to feel at home and as you know in Malaysia we are multilingual. Our staff speak Bahasa Malaysia, English, Chinese or Tamil so people in the region are actually quite comfortable staying in Malaysia hospitals,” said Dato’ Ooi, adding, “Also, Malaysian hospitals being an Islamic country you can have halal food and all the things (related) without any problem at all.”
All hospitals can accept international patients but the government has taken a stand to promote 35 hospitals whom we feel will be able to meet the demands of international patients well. For example, certain criteria, we want them to have accreditation.
We have the Malaysian standard for quality in health, at least they should have that accreditation so that when they market to our clients abroad they can be assured that these hospitals are accredited.”
The council is promoting private hospitals for medical tourism. “Of course, in this instance, we also consider our National Heart Institute which I think the people in Brunei also know-it is one of the hospitals in the list for promotion because it’s a corporate entity.”
The eight hospital participating in the showcase are from the “top of the range”, said Dato’ Ooi.
Some of the popular packages utilised by medical tourists are health screening, plastic surgery as well as serious healthcare such as surgery and treatment for oncology, orthopaedic, cardiothoracie and knee which Dato’ Ooi said that Malaysia had developed a reputation for and the event is the time for Bruneians to learn more about Malaysia’s healthcare.
‘We are here to offer an option for Bruneians. Should you need healthcare other than what you can find in Brunei then look at Malaysia,” said Dato’ Ooi. Bruneians who go to Malaysia often sought treatment for cancer, heart bypass and or- thopaedic according to representatives from the participating hospitals.
Pantai Group of Hospitals recorded 100 Bruneian patients seeking treatment, an overall figure collected from all its 10 hospitals, Norhaslina Othman, the deputy manager of International Marketing told The Brunei Times. Melinda Arokiasamy, staff nurse from TMC Fertility Centre said that so far they had received eight Bruneian patients and are looking to increase the figure.
Last year, the centre celebrated its 2000 babies which were successfully conceived through its state-of-the-art fertility services. Meanwhile statistics of Bruneian patients from the other participating hospitals were not immediately made available. — Courtesy of The Brunei Times