Jordan the Arab Medical Tourism Champion

..ancient wall city of Petra

Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab country in Southwest Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba. It shares borders with Syria to the north, Iraq to the north-east, the West Bank and Israel to the west, and Saudi Arabia to the east and south. It shares control of the Dead Sea with Israel, and the coastline of the Gulf of Aqaba with the State of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Much of Jordan is covered by desert. The capital city of Amman is in the north-west.

So what do we know about Jordan besides maybe the ancient wall city of Petra sometimes claimed as 'Petra, Jordan, the place in the desert that is prepared by God for the Jewish people'?.

How about medical tourists? Really.

Private Hospital Association (PHA) president Fawzi Hammouri contends the World Bank places Jordan as first among the Arab countries and among the top 10 in the world when it concerns medical travel.

A study by Jordan’s Private Hospital Association (PHA) reports that last year, 210,000 patients from 48 countries received treatment in local medical facilities. This was an increase compared with the 190,000 patients in the previous year.

Most of the patients come from Iraq, Palestine, Sudan and Yemen.

“In order to maintain this ranking, we have to keep the current markets in the Arab world and find new ones in Africa, Europe and the US,” he said. “We have already marketed in Chad, Nigeria, Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.”

PHA is a private, voluntary, non-profit organisation established in1984 to represent the interests of 48 private hospitals in Jordan. It seeks to raise medical standards, supports national and international accreditation and promotes the Hashemite Kingdom as a medical tourism destination. To enable these ambitions to be fulfilled more quickly, it is planning to allow public and university hospitals to join its ranks. The new grouping will eventually be named Jordan Hospital Association.

PHA is working with member hospitals to promote specially designed healthcare offers to Americans and Europeans. Hammouri explains: “ We will provide them with packages that are 25 percent below market prices. This includes the plane ticket, accommodation and a visit to Petra to encourage local tourism as well.”

Really.

Indonesians seeking treatment overseas

..the famed ancient Borobudur complex in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

About a million Indonesians go overseas annually seeking treatment, an exercise that amounts to well over US$1 billion, research by analysts Frost and Sullivan shows.

The study, presented at a health forum in Singapore in April, indicates that despite the huge potential and spending power of Indonesia’s large population, the domestic healthcare industry has proven incapable of meeting their needs. Instead, countries such as Singapore, Australia, Malaysia and the US have been benefiting from the visits of wealthy local residents.

Frost and Sullivan contend that Malaysia has been gaining over Singapore in attracting Indonesian patients. It said: “Indonesian medical tourists going to Malaysia comprise around 70 percent of its total (inventory of) international patients, while those going to Singapore are only around 65 percent.”

Last year, Malaysian hospitals treated 288,000 Indonesian patients, up from 221,538 in 2007 and 170,414 in 2006.

In 2007, Singapore hospitals treated 226,200 Indonesian patients, a drop from the 266,500 recorded in 2006. However, its revenue in 2007 from this market was recorded to have increased.

Affordable pricing was Malaysia’s edge over Singapore, while political stability put it ahead of another rival Thailand.

With Singapore’s healthcare infrastructure being world class, its treatment costs are higher than Malaysia’s as are accommodation and incidentals. This reality has led it emphasise quality, and focus on the highly affluent Middle East sector.

A Muslim country, Malaysia has also decided to go for an Arab clientele, as well as those from destinations within the eight-hour flight range including China, Japan, Korea and the Asean.

Malaysia - Your preferred healthcare destination?

A Malay girl: pretty, polite & quiet





Logically Malaysia should do well with Middle Eastern medical tourists. And why not?

Among the factors working to Malaysia’s advantage, are its cost-competitiveness compared to the regional and international markets, the good infrastructure, and the fact that English is widely spoken. It has highly-trained and skilled medical personnel, state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment, modern facilities, accreditation based on international healthcare standards, competitive cost of treatment, and excellent hospitality.

But although Malaysia is an Islamic country, tourists from the Middle East make Thailand and Singapore their choice of destination over Malaysia when it comes to getting medical treatment, said a top Malaysian official.

“Although we have the clear edge in terms of religion, Muslim hospital staff, halal food and other aspects, Middle East tourists prefer to go to Thailand and Singapore. Due to this, the country continues to be left far behind the two neighbouring countries in the sector which is growing annually.’ Making this statement, Secretary General of the National Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (NCCIM), Datuk Syed Hussien Al-Habshee said the lack of effective marketing strategy was the reason for Malaysia being left behind the two countries in medical tourism. He says that in 2008 6,000 medical tourists from the Middle East went to Thailand for various forms of treatment in the country's hospitals.

Syed Hussien argues that there is an urgent need for more integrated strategies from government agencies. The three ministries involved, namely the Ministry of Health, Ministry of International Trade and Industry and Tourism Ministry should have a strategy to promote and market Malaysia as a premier medical tourism destination, rather than leaving it all to the private hospital sector, he said.

A recent study by the National University of Singapore shows that the process of transforming Malaysian healthcare into a global commodity is well under way. This is underpinned by the Government’s effort in institutionalising various incentives such as tax support, accreditation, sales promotion and marketing activities to promote the country as a healthcare hub. The report echoes Syed Hussein as it says that the initiatives are fragmented and that the private healthcare sector has been tasked to be the driver of medical tourism in Malaysia.

Malaysian hospitals are known for their resources and expertise in cardiology, orthopedics, cancer treatment, fertility treatment, and reconstructive surgery. What it is poor at is integrated marketing, promotion and advertising. The private sector has 230 private hospitals and 4000 medical and dental clinics. 35 private hospitals have been recognised by the Malaysian Ministry of Health for the promotion of health tourism.

As a step to promoting itself in the Middle East, The Ministry of Health and the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM) recently took ten leading providers of medical care, wellness, health tourism and healthcare technology to MSE 2009, a trade exhibition in Dubai, with a forum on 'Malaysia - Your preferred healthcare destination'.

After achieving JCI status, Prince Court Medical Centre (PCMC) in Kuala Lumpur wants to become a leading healthcare provider in Asia and promote medical tourism, says chief executive Stuart Rowley, "We are targeting the Asian region, Middle East and there is a lot of existing demand coming from Australia and New Zealand for medical tourism."