Medical tourism receives positive signals from heart catheterization to save Singaporean fetus

On May 28, a team of doctors from Tu Du Hospital and Children's Hospital 1 ( Ho Chi Minh City) made efforts to intervene in the fetus, saving the life of a 22-week-old fetus, weighing 600g, with a complex congenital heart defect of a Singaporean woman.

Previously, during a check-up in Singapore, the pregnant woman was diagnosed with an aortic valve defect in her fetus - a rare malformation. Due to insufficient technical conditions, Singaporean doctors referred the pregnant woman to Vietnam for treatment.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health , Singapore's referral of patients to Vietnam for treatment not only demonstrates confidence in Vietnam's professional capacity, but also shows ASEAN's recognition of Vietnam's fetal medicine level. In the context of strong growth in medical tourism, this is a positive signal, contributing to raising Vietnam's position on the regional medical tourism map.

Building and shaping the brand

Medical tourism is the activity of medical examination, surgery, medical treatment, combined with tourism. In Asia, this form of tourism is emerging as a potential development field, especially in countries such as Thailand, Korea, India and Malaysia. Not out of the trend, in the past 5 years, Vietnam has also been investing in developing products and services aimed at building and shaping the Vietnamese brand on the regional and world medical tourism map.

Many tours combining medical examination and treatment have been built such as: "Healthy Living Every Day" Tour combining general examination - traditional therapy - Can Gio eco-tourism; "Vietnam Smile" Tour combining dental services and traditional cuisine; "Asian Beauty" Tour including cosmetic surgery, relaxation and post-operative recovery.

In addition, there are tours serving tourists who need examination, consultation and general health care such as periodic health examination (general, in-depth); nutrition consultation, healthy lifestyle; disease screening (cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes...), specialized examination programs according to age, gender and needs (for the elderly, women, businessmen).

Currently, Ho Chi Minh City is playing a leading role in the medical tourism sector of the country, accounting for more than 40% of the market share. The advantage comes from modern medical infrastructure, diverse services and high professional capacity of medical examination and treatment facilities. With the application of advanced technology and continuous improvement of service quality, Ho Chi Minh City is capable of receiving and serving tourists with health care needs, medical examination and treatment combined with relaxation.

“Billion USD” revenue source

According to research by Grand View Research Company, medical tourism is growing rapidly, with global medical tourism revenue forecast to reach nearly 100 billion USD by 2030. Recently, some Asian countries (Thailand, Korea, India, Malaysia...) have promoted this type of tourism to welcome tourists from the US and European countries.

In 2023-2024, Thailand will welcome more than 3 million medical tourists, generating revenue of more than 850 million USD (in 2023), Singapore aims for 1 million patients with revenue of 3 billion USD per year. In 2023, India will welcome 2 million international patients, with revenue of about 6 billion USD; India is expected to increase revenue from medical tourism to 13 billion USD by 2026.

It is forecasted that by 2030, global medical tourism revenue will reach nearly 100 billion USD. (Photo: Minh Quyet/VNA)

According to a survey by the World Wellness Tourism Association, 76% of respondents said they would be willing to spend more on health-improving trips and 55% would pay more for psychological services or therapy. This shows that the demand for experiencing health care products among tourists is increasing.

Currently, compared to other countries in the region, Vietnam's healthcare services are affordable, the healthcare system is well-invested, and the team of highly skilled doctors and nurses help attract international tourists, especially overseas Vietnamese. In Vietnam, the type of resort tourism combined with medical examination and treatment is assessed to have great potential for development, with an annual revenue of about 2 billion USD.

According to statistics from International Living Magazine (Australia), the cost of dental work in Vietnam is 6 to 10 times lower than in some countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia. Compared to some neighboring countries such as Thailand and Malaysia, the cost of dental work in Vietnam is also 30% to 50% cheaper.

Although the cost is low, in Vietnam, the quality of dentists' skills as well as investment in equipment and treatment machines are not inferior to any country with advanced dentistry.

Ms. Nguyen Kieu Lien (a Vietnamese living in Sweden) returns to Vietnam twice a year, during Christmas and summer. Every time she returns, her whole family takes time to visit the dentist.

“Dental services in Vietnam are much cheaper than in Europe. For example, in Vietnam, treating cavities and getting porcelain crowns only takes about 2 weeks with a cost of 300-500 USD. Meanwhile, in many European countries, patients have to wait 2-4 months for similar services, with costs of up to several thousand USD,” Ms. Kieu Lien shared.

Specialist Doctor II Nguyen Minh Duc, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology, said that in order to meet the needs of international visitors, the hospital has set aside a dental treatment area that can serve 20 patients at the same time. The dentists here, in addition to their professional qualifications, also have good foreign language skills.

At the same time, the hospital invests in many modern 3D and 4D equipment and machinery to serve the fastest way to take impressions and create dental molds to produce dental products that reach 99.9%, ensuring that the installation of teeth does not require much editing. To serve dental tourism, the facilities need to ensure the fastest, most accurate, most beautiful and reasonable prices, competitive with the region and the world.

Currently, the most popular medical services chosen by tourists when coming to Vietnam are: Dentistry, cosmetic surgery, organ transplants, heart surgery, orthopedic surgery, eye care services; in addition, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other reproductive support services are also services that attract medical tourists.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tuan Anh, former Director of the Vietnam Institute for Tourism Development Research, to develop medical tourism services, tourism businesses need to cooperate with hospitals and medical facilities to build a comprehensive care service system that is friendly to international tourists, providing a comprehensive medical service package (examination-treatment-resort-post-treatment).

International tourists need a medical guide or support staff who speaks a foreign language (English, Korean, Chinese, etc.) and have services to support medical visa procedures, flight booking, accommodation, and domestic travel. In addition, medical examination and accommodation facilities for tourists need to pay attention to designing a friendly space, ensuring privacy, comfort, and international cultural compatibility.

To serve international visitors to Vietnam, hospitals and medical facilities need to invest systematically, improve the quality of medical services to meet international standards; standardize medical examination and treatment procedures (according to international standards JCI - Joint Commission International); apply modern medical technology, advanced equipment, and new techniques. In particular, it is necessary to strengthen the training of doctors and medical staff in both expertise and foreign language skills, and cross-cultural communication.

The success of the congenital heart intervention for the Singaporean fetus not only affirms the professional level of Vietnamese healthcare, but also opens up opportunities for the strong development of medical tourism in the context of international integration. With advantages in cost, quality of medical skills and services increasingly approaching international standards, Vietnam needs a close connection between the medical and tourism sectors, along with support policies from authorities to promote the development of medical tourism, bringing high sources of visitors and revenue to the tourism industry in the coming time./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/du-lich-y-te-don-tin-hieu-tich-cuc-tu-ca-thong-tim-cuu-thai-nhi-nguoi-singapore-post1044213.vnp