KUALA LUMPUR – The government is targeting direct revenue of RM800 million next year and RM1.7 billion in 2025 from the country’s health tourism sector through initiatives outlined in the Malaysian Healthcare Travel Industry Blueprint 2021-2025.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali (Bagan Serai-Bersatu) said the five-year plan aimed to enhance the healthcare tourism ecosystem as well as rehabilitate and redevelop the industry.
“From 2020 until now, the health tourism sector recorded significant losses due to Covid-19 with the closure of international borders, recording a drop in direct revenue of RM2.2 billion,” he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a question from Datuk Mohd Nizar Zakaria (Parit-BN) on the total losses incurred by the country’s health tourism sector during the pandemic and the efforts by the Health Ministry to help revive the sector.
Noor Azmi said among efforts made by the ministry to revive the sector were conducting digital promotion and strategic branding through Malaysia World’s Healthcare Marvel campaign, branding Malaysia as a treatment destination via the “Cardiology and Fertility Hub of Asia” and the “Malaysia Cancer Care Centre of Excellence” programmes.
Apart from that, he said a digital framework of the health tourism industry was also drawn up in an effort to enhance and improve the experience of health tourists while receiving their treatment in the country.
He said Malaysia was a hub for health tourism, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, because of its excellent healthcare infrastructure, well-trained medical staff and security. – Bernama, December 14, 2021
