Overseas Filipinos Comprise Huge Market for Medical Tourism

Filipinos based abroad comprise a huge market for medical tourism, which is expected to become a $3-trillion global business by 2020.

In a press briefing, HealthCore Philippines executive director Joyce Socao-Alumno said that in the United States alone, there are some five million Filipinos holding American passports who could beef up medical tourism if they could be convinced to get their medical, surgical, aesthetic and wellness needs in the country.

“We have a big market from among the Filipinos based abroad. We have seen the global healthcare scenario. There is a big market out there because (people) are aging. There is a projection that in 2014 to 2020, half of the world will be 50 and above,” she noted.

Alumno added that it would be more beneficial for Filipinos abroad to get healthcare procedures in the Philippines because they have relatives here and they are familiar with the language.

On Nov. 11, HealthCore will spearhead the 1st Philippine Global Healthcare Forum at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City where local and international experts in the healthcare business and management will gather to assess and discuss the growing industry of medical tourism, now also known as “medical travel” and “global health care.”

According to Alumno, the Philippines “has all the resources and advantage to become a hub of global health care” but it has been left behind by neighboring countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and India.

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Posted in: OFW