Update on medical tourism in Singapore

14 Sep 2009

Question No:  58  

Question

Name of the Person: Dr Lam Pin Min

To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether he will provide an update on medical tourism in Singapore for 2009; (b) how has the Influenza A (H1N1-2009) pandemic affected medical tourist arrivals; and (c) what is the Ministry's plan in boosting medical tourism in Singapore.

Reply

Reply From MOH

1. The number of medical tourist arrivals is estimated through annual surveys by the Singapore Tourism Board. The 2009 figures are not yet available. 

2. Given the global economic slowdown, we should expect a drop in the number of medical tourists this year. The H1N1 outbreak has further dampened medical travel demand, especially during the initial months of the outbreak.   

3. Nonetheless, our major private hospitals experienced only marginal changes in revenue for the second quarter of 2009, compared to the second quarter of 2008. This suggests that the impact of the downturn and H1N1 so far is not as bad as originally projected. 

4. As the region recovers from the recession, our healthcare system should be able to capture the upturn in medical tourism. We have a competent healthcare system, with world-class facilities and a well-deserved reputation for high medical and ethical standards. We continue with our efforts to expand the capacity and raise the capabilities of our healthcare services, in both the public and the private sectors.

5. Two new private hospitals are slated to open in 2012 and will give us additional capacity to cater to both locals and foreigners. Professional manpower will continue to be expanded, through increased local training and foreign recruitment.

6. Let me add that “SingaporeMedicine” should not be narrowly defined and measured by the number of foreign patients coming here.  That is only one part of the larger biomedical science sectoral development which we have embarked upon. Besides traditional pharmaceutical investments, a growing area is in medical technology investments, healthcare informatics, healthcare innovations and effective preventive healthcare programmes. The world is hungry for practical solutions to help people stay healthy, manage their chronic illnesses and reduce their medical bills. Attracting the sick to come here for treatment is one component of SingaporeMedicine. Contributing to the research and innovation that can yield useful solutions to the global healthcare problem is another major component. That is why we invest in clinical and translational research, support clinician-scientists and offer our hospitals and healthcare providers as test sites for such innovative ideas.   This is part of the joint MOH and EDB “Health & Wellness” initiative, where we are positioning Singapore as a future-oriented Living Lab, for the industry to work with the public sector in co-creating, conceptualizing, test-bedding, and adopting innovative solutions, which could subsequently be exported. While we are still at the early phase of this next stage of development, there are opportunities for Singapore to be a leader in addressing global healthcare challenges. The prospects are promising and exciting.