Mohd Daud Mohd Arif , chief executive officer of the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council
projections , the agency estimates that as the industry recovers , health tourism has the potential to contribute up to RM10 billion ( US $ 2.34 billion ) to the economy by 2025 .
Since the outbreak of the pandemic , MHTC has been playing a pivotal role in facilitating the arrival of international patients at Malaysian private hospitals . It ’ s also been working closely with the country ’ s hospitals to determine other areas or markets to focus on , such as the Middle East . The aim is to leverage public-private partnerships to spur the sector as a key economic growth driver for post COVID-19 economic recovery .
To maintain continuity of patient care , especially for those who require urgent medical treatments , such as cardiac and cancer patients , Malaysia was among the first countries globally to implement a dedicated medical travel bubble last July .
This was a concerted effort involving various public-private stakeholders , including the National Security Council , the Ministry of Health Malaysia , the Immigration Department , MHTC , and its member hospitals , to foster economic and industry-wide recovery .
“ The formation of a travel bubble not only benefits the current healthcare travel industry but also contributes to the nation ’ s economic growth as part of recovery ,” said Mohd Daud .
In addition , Malaysia is now in the process of increasing vaccination rates in order to reopen the borders gradually and safely in the near future .
“ Once we are cleared , MHTC will be more aggressive in our approach to push and expand the healthcare travel bubble ,” he added . “ This will allow us to help facilitate the needs and continued care to our international healthcare patients .”
An example of Malaysia ’ s success in using travel bubbles can be seen in the efforts of the Langkawi Development Authority to reopen the holiday island for tourism . Courses have been held for 1,238 industry figures closely linked to the tourism sector who , upon completing their evaluations , will receive certificates of compliance recognised by the local state health department .
Despite these efforts , though , it will take time for the health travel industry to recover to pre-pandemic profitability , Mohd Daud believes . Its recovery will depend on various factors such as domestic and global vaccine rollouts , easing of Malaysian interstate and international border restrictions and closures , and a
GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com OCTOBER 2021
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