The government should actively attract tourists from overseas with advanced cosmetic surgery and health examination services, medical tourism advocates said on Thursday.
Ben Tsao (曹賜斌), chairman of Kaohsiung Aesthetic Medical Tourism Promotion Association, cited a report from Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) showing that foreign patients accounted for less than 1 percent of total medical service users in 2008. He added that the most popular services among foreign patients were not the five physical surgeries promoted by the government. Rather, they came mainly for health examinations and cosmetic surgeries.
The five physical surgeries included joint replacement, cardiovascular operations, in-vitro fertilization, facial rejuvenation and liver transplants.
“Those surgeries normally have to be performed at large teaching hospitals, which may use resources that should be reserved for citizens,” Tsao said. “It would be difficult for the patients to travel after the surgeries as well.”
“Cosmetic surgeries and health examinations, on the other hand, can be conducted at mid-sized hospitals and private clinics,” he said. “Patients generally are not required to stay in the hospital after cosmetic surgeries. The surgeries can be arranged a few days before the patients return.”
Tsao’s presentation also displayed statistics from Patients without Borders, a US-based medical tourism facilitator. They showed that Thailand topped other Asian nations with an average 1.4 million overseas visitors a year who come for cosmetic surgery, generating about US$1 billion in revenue.
It was followed by Singapore and India, which attracted 410,000 and 150,000 medical tourists annually, respectively. Singapore’s medical tourism industry highlighted its forte in cosmetic surgery and high-class health examinations, whereas India specialized in physical surgeries and health management.
In comparison, Taiwan has an average of 40,000 medical tourists a year, with the revenue barely reaching US$10 million.
Tsao said his association as well as representatives from the tourism industry and various medical associations are launching a series of events this year to promote medical tourism.
Hwang Kung-chang (黃焜璋), specialist general of the hospital administration commission at the Department of Health, said the department has a very tight marketing budget of about NT$10 million.
He called on lawmakers to unfreeze the budget so they could better promote medical tourism.
Tang Yueh-bih (湯月碧), chairwoman of the Taiwan Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Association, said the nation must establish a good reputation in medical tourism and a well-rounded mechanism to settle medical disputes.
Yang Yeong-sheng (楊永盛), director of the Tourism Bureau’s public relations office, said it was not difficult to develop medical tourism. The key was packaging the tours and marketing them overseas, he said.
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