Malaysia, Qatar healthcare collaboration eyed

The Malaysian embassy in Doha sees a huge potential for Qatar and Malaysia to collaborate in the field of healthcare, making high-quality and competitively affordable healthcare services easily accessible. While Qatar continues to provide exceptional healthcare services, Malaysian ambassador Shamzari Shaharan said there is a great opportunity for co-operation between the two countries and “to complement the services in Qatar.”“We have many private healthcare facilities in Malaysia with global recognition and international accreditation from the UK, the US, Australia, and even our homegrown Malaysian experts. Provided in these facilities are all state-of-the-art tech equipment,” said the envoy at a webinar yesterday promoting Malaysia’s healthcare tourism.Titled ‘Introduction to Malaysia Healthcare’ yesterday, the event was hosted by Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) – an agency under the Malaysian Ministry of Heal. It was also participated by Zurich International Life Qatar general manager Greg Loayon, and moderated by BizRep Services director Mohamed Thomas Lim.According to Shaharan, the seamless connectivity between Doha and Kuala Lumpur via Qatar Airways flights plays a key role in delivering excellent healthcare services. While the Covid-19 pandemic had kept many countries closed, he said, Malaysia was the first to reopen its borders in July 2020 for healthcare travellers, but adhering to very strict health and safety protocols.MHTC’s vice president of Marketing Kevin Low echoed Shaharan’s statement saying that Malaysia is a safe and trusted healthcare destination, providing world-class and modern services and facilities, in addition to seamless end-to-end patient experience. He said Malaysia has a well-regulated healthcare system monitored by its Ministry of Health, and patients save 60 to 80% in treatment costs compared to the rates in other countries offering the same services.Malaysia, which hosts 200 private hospitals, (besides dental clinics, and health and wellness centres), where 77 are active players in healthcare travel, is a renowned tourist haven and global halal hub, Low noted. From 643,000 arrivals in 2011, Malaysia witnessed 1.22mn healthcare travel arrivals in 2019 – recording a surge in revenue from $127mn to $362mn during this period.According to MHTC, Malaysia’s medical tourism industry saw a compounded annual growth rate of 16% to 17% in the last five years – well ahead of the global average of 10% to 12% and Asia-Pacific’s 12% to 14%. Malaysia is renowned for its oncology, fertility, cardiology, orthopaedic, and aesthetic treatments, attracting many health travellers from around the world.