Health official touts three niche fields

The nation has three niche fields in which it could promote medical tourism -- arthritic or damaged joint replacement, laser eye surgery and dental care, a Department of Health (DOH) official said yesterday.

Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元), director of the DOH's Bureau of Medical Affairs, was responding to Vice President Annette Lu's (呂秀蓮) call for action to promote medical tourism, such as attracting Chinese citizens to get physical checkups in Taiwan.

"When it comes to medical tourism, we must focus our energy on fields in which we possess a competitive edge," Hsueh said, adding that Taiwan is highly competitive in joint replacement, laser eye surgery and dental care in terms of both technological levels and prices.

Chinese may want to check into Taiwanese medical facilities for checkups -- but also for more complex procedures such as joint replacements, dental care and laser eye surgery, Hsueh said.

Speaking to a gathering of the Taiwan Junior Chamber yesterday, Lu said that Taiwan has an edge over Western countries in providing medical services to Chinese because Taiwanese hospital staff speak Mandarin.

South Korea and Thailand have exceled in attracting people seeking cosmetic surgery, while Singapore has worked hard to entice wealthy people from neighboring countries to seek treatment for serious diseases or have health checkups.