Malaysia

Health Tourism in Malaysia

Malaysia is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country that is snuggled in south Asia. The country extends to an estimated area of 330,803 sq. km and is the home to approximately 31.4 million people. The population density is of approx. 92 people / sq. km. The name Malaysia is a combination of the word “Malay” and the Latin-Greek suffix “-sia”. The word Malay was used to mean “to run steadily”.

Why Malaysia for Medical Tourism?

Malaysia has several accredited hospitals and attracts a wide range of medical tourists. The doctors are internationally trained, which minimizes the communication barrier. The services offered and their low cost promotes medical tourism development in the country. Malaysia received several awards for the offered medical services in 2015. It was rated the best medical tourism destination in the world. Malaysia, also, was rated to have the best international medical facility in the world. The high demand for medical services, as well as the desire to keep the titles, made the country’s government to continuously invest in the development of medical facilities.

Medical Tourism Popularity in Malaysia

Malaysia is currently the most popular medical tourism destination in the world. A tittle they have maintained since 2015. It reportedly received six hundred and forty-one thousand (641,000) medical tourists in 2011, seven hundred and twenty-eight thousand, eight hundred (728,800) medical tourists in 2012, eight hundred and one thousand (881,000) tourists the following year. The number has since gone up to more than a million in 2016. The majority of the patients come from Indonesia with a smaller percentage of tourists coming from Singapore, India, Japan, Australia, the United States of America and the Middle East. Malaysia has won several awards in the medical tourism industry.

Malaysian Healthcare System Progress

Medical tourism in Malaysia motivated its officials to invest in the developing of the healthcare industry. The life expectancy in the country is at an average of 74.84 years. The medical tourism sector has led to the development of the infrastructure in Malaysia and played a major role in the general development of the country. According to the International Living website, among the top six countries that obtained the best ratings in the category of Best Healthcare in the World for this year, Malaysia ranked first with its world-class healthcare services and sophisticated infrastructure.

Hospital Accreditation System in Malaysia

Joint Commission International (JCI) is a global certification entity that establishes a gold standard in the world of the medical industry. It accredits hospitals and medical schools in Costa Rica. JCI has programs that help improve hospitals to meet their standards.