01-Feb-17 Malaysia is a popular destination for tourists from the Middle East, with nearly 200,000 arriving in 2016. The country is a key destination for medical tourism. In neighboring Thailand, tourism officials said the US ban could lift visitor numbers. "The Middle East is a big market for us, especially in the medical tourism sector," said Tourism Authority Governor Yuthasak Supasorn. [image: Reuters]

01-Feb-17 Medical tourists are coming to Malaysia, lured by high-quality yet affordable healthcare and the climate. “It’s more lucrative than conventional tourism because healthcare travellers tend to stay longer,” MATTA vice-president S. Jayakumar said. The country welcomed about 850,000 medical tourists in 2015 with revenue of MYR900 mn (USD203 mn) compared with MYR777 mn (USD175 mn) in 2014. [image: The Star]

27-Jan-17 Phyathai 2 International Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, is developing a centre of excellence to enhance its medical services and serve a growing number of medical tourists. the hospital is aiming to increase its foreign clientele to 40 to 50 per cent of overall patients. [image: Phyathai Hospital / IHMT]

26-Jan-17 Verily, the Alphabet subsidiary formerly known as Google Life Sciences, has raised USD800 mn in funding from Temasek, the Singapore government investment company. "Proceeds may be used to support our growth in key strategic areas, including potential acquisitions, investment in partnerships and developing new opportunities on a global scale," according to a spokesperson for Verily. [image: Verily]

23-Jan-17 The influx of NGOs in Cambodia may have weakened the government health sector. A report has found that Cambodia has been more dependent on health NGOs than other case studies. While “international aid was critical to support the country’s reconstruction”, the study also claims that conflicting agendas “did not help strengthening government stewardship and ownership of health sector development”. [image: Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP]