Medical tourists to bring in RM540mil by 2010

The Tourism Ministry expects medical tourism to grow significantly and contribute RM540 million in revenue by end of 2010.

The ministry's deputy secretary-general Dr. Junaida Lee Abdullah said some 625,000 medical tourists are expected to visit Malaysia next year and the ministry is taking the necessary steps to promote and boost the industry.

"The numbers are growing exponentially and the APHM (Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia) data shows revenue generated from foreign patients grew from RM14.1 million in 1998 to RM299.1 million in 2008," said Junaida.

She said the number of foreign patients rose from 39,114 in 1998 to 374,063 in 2008.