28 April 2009 : MORE than 370,000 foreigners sought medical treatment in the country last year, generating some RM300 million revenue for the medical tourism industry, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said.

"Over the years, Malaysia's medical tourism has registered annual growth of 30 per cent," he told reporters at a briefing yesterday.

Liow was present at the award of the Joint Commission International's (JCI) hospital accreditation certificate to the Prince Court Medical Centre (PCMC) in Kuala Lumpur.

"Being accredited, especially by an international body, would certainly help in benchmarking the quality services provided by the hospitals," he said.

The Health Ministry is always supportive of accreditation programmes, he added.

"The rapid uptake of accreditation activities by hospitals in Malaysia is testimony to the ministry's commitment to ensure that healthcare is provided in a safe and effective manner to all our clients, local or from overseas," Liow said.

JCI is one of the few accreditation bodies to be formally accredited by the International Society for Quality in Health (ISQua).

"Our own home-grown hospital accreditation body, the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health (MSQH), has also been awarded this coveted international accreditation by ISQua. Thus, the standards set by both JCI and MSQH are of international stature."

Besides PCMC, the Penang Adventist Hospital and the International Eye Specialist Centre in Kuala Lumpur also have JCI accreditation.

"The Institut Jantung Negara is also working towards it. These endeavours are highly commendable," Liow said.

For the MSQH, 113 hospitals have been surveyed to date. Eighty-three, comprising 65 government and 18 private hospitals, have received the accreditation.

PCMC chief executive officer Stuart Rowley said it expects to register revenue of up to RM40 million from medical tourists for the year to March 31 2010.

"This would represent about 30 per cent of PCMC's total revenue," he said.

 

By : Kamarul Yunus