TOURISM and private hospital groups have cited the Philippines’s ability to take advantage of the $40-billion medical travel industry with the presence of highly equipped medical centers and competent doctors.

Tourism Undersecretary Oscar Palabyad said there are over 780 million patients seeking faster, less expensive and world-class medical care outside their country.

“It’s a good opportunity for the Philippines because the medical tourism industry is a growing market…the key question right now is taking advantage of it,” said Palabyab in an interview during the launch of the second International Medical Travel Conference held at the Intercon Hotel in Makati on Tuesday.

He said the core markets are the United States, specifically the Filipino migrants there who are not just looking for medical treatments but for wellness and relaxation. The Philippines is also catering to the Chinese, the Koreans and the Japanese.

Palabyad admitted that the failure to operate the Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport is a major disadvantage for the Philippines in the medical travel industry.

The Philippine Association of Health Institutions for Medical Tourism, composed of 12 major hospitals in the Philippines, is now preparing a research base on the specific needs of the medical tourists to be able to help hospitals and health-care centers enhance their facilities and manpower.

Alma Jimenez, president of St. Frances Cabrini Medical Center, a member of the medical tourism association in the country, said most of the medical tourists are Filipino overseas migrant workers who avail themselves of medical treatments while taking a vacation in the Philippines.

“We would also want to tap the 1-percent population of the OFWs  who are now ultra-rich but still prefer medical treatments in the United States but not knowing they will  be treated by the best Filipino medical specialists there,” said Jimenez.

Dr. Alfredo Bengzon, former health secretary and director of the Medical City, meanwhile, said that enhancing the Philippine competitiveness in the medical tourism industry could bring back home the thousands of highly competent Filipino doctors and nurses now working in the US and other rich countries.

“Filipino doctors leaving the Philippines for better-paying jobs abroad is a sad reality in the country but we can help address that by providing staging areas where they can practice here and get better salaries,” said Bengzon during the forum.

More than 250 health-care experts from the United States, Europe, Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia are attending the second International Medical Travel Conference from November 20 to 23 at the Intercon hotel in Makati City.

TOURISM and private hospital groups have cited the Philippines’s ability to take advantage of the $40-billion medical travel industry with the presence of highly equipped medical centers and competent doctors.

AN American firm is now looking to partner with a local health-maintenance organization (HMO) in facilitating the travel and medical treatment of the millions of Filipino workers scattered throughout the world right in the Philippines starting next year through its “diaspora concept.”

TOTAL Information Management Corp. (TIM) recently signed a P55-million contract with Government Insurance Service System (GSIS), its third government contract signed this year.

DAVAO CITY—After updating what it called its “outdated” financial and tax measures, the Davao City Council has reassessed its real-estate tax structure to level both the zonal and market values of land and other properties in the city.

THE Cebu City government has embarked on a consultation with major sectors to draft a 10-year development plan for the city.