March 24, 2006
Medical tourism in Singapore
Thank you to Neal, both for his interesting comments on India's medical value travel marketing campaign and for emailing me this article on medical tourism in Singapore (the article also mentions Malaysia, Thailand and India as countries who will see increased medical tourism). However, the fact that some Indians travel to Singapore for transplants is telling.
The Living Donor Liver Transplant program at Gleneagles is popular with foreigners, partly due to excellent medical care (it's headed by "world renowned transplant and hepatobiliary surgeon Dr KC Tan"), and because "unlike India, Singapore law allows transplants in situations where there is an emotional link between the donor and recipient."
The article also goes on to discuss stem cell transplant and stem cell treatment for patients with advanced cancer tumors at Mount Elizabeth Hospital. One big attraction: "cost of treatment here ranges from USD 72,000 to USD 90,000 per person, compared to USD 235,000 for similar treatment in the US."
The article also discusses health care in other Asian countries and is certainly worth reading.
Posted by James Trotta at March 24, 2006 1:01 PM