Analysis of Medical Tourism in Malaysia: Factors and Impacts

This report delves into the phenomenon of medical tourism in Malaysia, examining the factors that contribute to its popularity. It highlights Malaysia's tropical climate, low cost of living, and high-quality healthcare facilities as key environmental factors that attract international patients. The report also explores the political factors, such as government subsidies and strict regulations, which further enhance Malaysia's appeal as a medical tourism destination. These measures, coupled with the government's commitment to patient safety and the availability of advanced medical technology, have positioned Malaysia as a leading destination for medical tourists seeking affordable and quality healthcare. The report also cites the sources used for the information provided.

MEDICAL TOURISM IN MALAYSIA
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Introduction
Malaysia is one of the world leading countries in medical provision as the state receives
over 800,000 foreign patients on an annual basis; the medical tourism revenue in Malaysia is
further expected to achieve the government target of RM 1.3B by closure of 2017 financial year
(Center for Health Tourism Strategy, 2017)
Environmental Reasons for its Existence
The primary reason why Malaysia is trusted international for medical healthcare is due to
its tropical climatic weather condition, low cost of living and presence of standard hospitals. The
country has beautiful and inexpensive hospitals, low crime rates, and friendly people. Due to the
low cost of living, it’s no doubt that foreigner who visits the country find it more comfortable to
stay in Malaysia as they undergo medical procedures (Kohno and Musa 2016). For instance, a
foreigner can comfortably live in Malaysia for A budget of $ 1,700 or even less within a month.
Political Reasons for its Existence
The Malaysian Government together with the private sectors in the country has been in
the forefront in promoting affordable healthcare within the state. The health and private sectors
in Malaysia have ensured quality provision of healthcare by investing in advanced technological
types of equipment for surgery on chronic illness such as Cancers (Woodman 2009). Secondly,
the government has also subsidized treatments costs both to its people and to the people who
visit its medical shores thus making the country more attractive to pharmaceutical tourists who
cannot afford expensive healthcare in their countries. Thirdly, the government has placed strict
policies and measures to safeguard the patient well-being by ensuring that patients receive
treatment only from professionally approved doctors and not just ‘any doctor' who feels they are
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fit to perform a medical procedure ( Falk and Prinsen 2016 ). The doctors are held accountable
for their actions as the Malaysians government value patient’s health and safety
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Work Cited
Center for Health Tourism Strategy. (2017). Home - Center for Health Tourism Strategy.
[online] Available at http://medicaltourismstrategy.com/ [Accessed 6 Oct. 2017]
Falk, L.K., and Prinsen, T.J., 2016. Decisions, Decisions: Factors that Influence a Patient's
Medical Tourism Choices. Quarterly Review of Business Disciplines, 3(3), p.195.
Kohno and Musa, G., et al., 2016. Issues in healthcare services in Malaysia as experienced by
Japanese retirees. BMC health services research, 16(1), p.167.
Woodman, J., 2009. Patients beyond borders: Everybody's guide to affordable, world-class
medical travel. Healthy Travel Media
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