PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's competitive edge in healthcare quality and standards has attracted large numbers of medical tourists to the country, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said the country's medical tourism industry had been seeing a rapid growth, recording 71 per cent increase in the number medical tourists last year.

"I'm proud that Malaysia is recognised as one of the top 10 preferred healthcare travel destinations in the world," he said at the 2nd Malaysia International Healthcare Travel Expo 2013 in Subang Jaya yesterday.

Present were Malaysian Healthcare Travel Council chief executive officer Dr Mary Wong Lai Lin, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar and Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahya.

Muhyiddin said the main edge that Malaysia had in attracting medical tourists was the affordable, value-for-money and high-quality healthcare that was competitively priced.

"For example, a heart bypass here costs approximately US$13,000 (RM41,200) while the average cost in the United States is US$122,000."

He said besides ease of travel, competitive treatment costs, international accreditation and quality standards, the country's other advantage was its bilingual competency among healthcare professionals.

The three-day exposition, themed "The Multifaceted Medical Tourism Experience", ends today.

source:NST