HCM City (VNA) - With a growing number of medical tourists whocombine travel with medical care coming to HCM City in recent years, lucrativemedical tourism needs concerted efforts by various official agencies and travelfirms to realise its huge potential, experts have said.

In the past decade, there has been a global booming in medical tourism, andAsia has become a popular destination, said Tang Chi Thuong, Deputy Director ofthe HCM City Department of Health.

With highly skilled and experienced physicians, state-of-the-art facilities andadvanced medical technologies as well as reasonably-priced services, manypublic and private hospitals reported a consistent increase in the number offoreign patients from the US, Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Laos,Cambodia and Africa, Thuong said.

“Vietnamese physicians are highly competent in comparison with their peers inthe region.”

A cardiac surgery in Vietnam costs around 3,000 USD, just one third of that inSingapore.  

Dental care, cosmetic surgeries, cardiology, traditional medicine andacupuncture, and artificial insemination are among the medical services thathave attracted many foreigners from not only Laos and Cambodia but also Europeand America, according to Thuong.

Nguyen Duc Minh, Director of the HCM City Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology, saidthe number of overseas Vietnamese and foreign patients at the hospital grows at10 percent a year.

"Around 500 overseas Vietnamese and foreigners get work on their teethdone at our hospital every year," he said.

In 2014, the figure was only 300.

“High-quality dental care services meeting international standards andreasonable prices are the advantages enjoyed by the country’s dental industry.”

Vu Tri Thanh, head of the HCM City University Medical Centre’s general planningdepartment, said the number of foreign patients at the hospital had been risingby 4,000 every year for the past few years, hitting 22,000 last year.

“To meet the rising demand, the hospital will soon open two examination roomsto exclusively serve foreign patients.”

It also plans to build a new 20-storey building to provide health checks andtreatment for foreign patients.

Cho Ray Hospital and FV Hospital get around 1,200 and 20,000 foreignpatients a year.

Huynh Nguyen Loc, Director of the HCM City Institute of Traditional Medicine,said his hospital got thousands of tourists from the US and Europe who combinetravel with treatment or come for traditional medicine courses.

"Some foreign firms sell packages for 10,000 USD, which include medicalcourses at our institute, accommodation, meals, and tours," Loc said.

“Domestic travel firms have failed to explore cooperation opportunities toserve these medical tourists who are willing to pay high costs.”

Travel firms said medical tourism had yet to achieve a brand of reliability interms of both quality of treatment and patients’ trust.
Qualified hospitals and clinics needed to get international accreditation andcertification to gain patients’ trust that they would get quality medical care,Phan Dinh Hue, Director of Viet Circle Travel and Service Co. Ltd, said.

Experts said there should be efficient marketing and promotion programmes formedical tourism to attract more foreigners.

The Department of Health last Friday signed a cooperation agreement with theDepartment of Tourism to develop five types of medical tourism related todental treatment, traditional medicine, cosmetic surgery, general healthconsultation and check-ups, and diagnosis of certain diseases such as heartdiseases and cancer.

The agreement, the first of its kind, will serve as a foundation for the growthof medical tourism in the city.

|The city is set to release a list of hospitals and clinics accredited by the Departmentof Health for tourists’ benefit by the end of this year.-VNA