CEBU CITY - The Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) in the country is strongly urging Government, particularly stakeholders in the medical tourism industry to develop measures on ensuring transparency in medical tourism packages if it wants to lure in more foreign patients.
''We see a bright spot for the Philippines in terms of medical tourism mostly because of its tropical climate which is ideal for medical patients in colder countries. But there is more to be done to develop the country's potential as an international health care destination,'' said Henry Schumacher, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) Executive Vice-President.
Aside from the ECCP, the JFV is comprised of the American Chamber of Commerce, Australian-New Zealand Chamber, Japanese Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, Korean Chamber, Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, and the Association of Regional Headquarters in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Schumacher said the JFC is recommending that the Aquino administration prioritizes negotiations on public insurance portability for international medical travel and retirement as well as implement national policies on wellness and medical travel.
It also asked the present administration to make possible seamless travel of medical travelers and health professionals as part of an exchange program with overseas hospitals by issuing longer medical tourism visas for patients and their companions as well as streamline related travel procedures.
''These concerns should be carefully implemented so the Philippines can compete head-on with long-established medical tourism destinations in Asia like Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia,'' Schumacher told reporters.
Among the core health care services and treatment identified by the Department of Tourism (DoT) as in high demand among foreigners visiting the Philippines are executive checkups, cardiovascular care, cancer care and stem cell therapy, joint replacement surgery, multi-disciplinary weight management care, eye care and sight restoration, dental care, aesthetic and dermatological surgery, spa wellness treatments and long-term care and retirement.
Foreign patients prefer medical treatment outside their home countries primarily because of lower costs.
Tourism, including medical and retirement tourism, is one of the industries pushed as part of the seven priority sectors that the JFC sees as having strong economic potentials for the Philippines in the group's proposed 300-page roadmap, which will be presented to various government agencies.
The seven priority areas, namely, agri-business sector, IT-BPO, creative industry, manufacturing, infrastructure, mining, and tourism, are expected to generate about 10 million jobs and $75 billion in foreign direct investments in the country by 2020.
According to reports, medical tourism in the country continues to grow as the number of overseas patients and clients rose from 60,000 foreign patients in 2007 to about 100,000 in 2008.
