Medical Tourism Continues To Attract Indonesians To Malaysia -- Ambassador

BANDUNG, June 2 (Bernama) -- As the region continues to recover from the COVID-19 epidemic, it is anticipated that the number of Indonesians travelling to Malaysia, notably for medical tourism, will continue to rise.

Syed Md Hasrin Tengku Hussin, the ambassador of Malaysia to Indonesia, reported that 300,000 of the 1.5 million Indonesian visitors to Malaysia last year visited Malaysia for medical treatment.

"In terms of health cooperation, Malaysia and Indonesia have worked together on a variety of projects, including research and development initiatives in both modern technology and traditional medicine for infectious illnesses.

"Others include training and education programmes as well as disease control and prevention cooperation," he said today at the Malaysia Healthcare Expo (MH Expo) here.

Over the past decade, Malaysia has emerged as an alternative location for Indonesians seeking medical care, accounting for more than 60 per cent of medical tourism to Malaysia.

Medical tourists from China, Australia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and other countries are also drawn to Malaysia mostly for fertility treatments, cardiology, orthopaedics, ophthalmology, oncology, neurology, dentistry, and health examination.

"This reflects the international medical tourism industry's belief in the quality of the healthcare system in Malaysia as an alternative to the treatment received in the home country," said Syed Md Hasrin.

Also present were the director of Tourism Malaysia in Jakarta Junus Suhid, the embassy's consular and immigration adviser Mohamad Nurzaini Kasi and the embassy's first secretary Ammil Afiq Jasimi.

The three-day MH Expo that ends this Sunday (June 4) was held to showcase the attractive combination of medical and tourism offers from 20 private health facilities in Malaysia. Also, present at this event organised by the Malaysian Health Tourism Council (MHTC) are state tourism representatives.

-- BERNAMA