Muscat: More Omanis are choosing Malaysia as a destination for medical tourism, said Malaysian healthcare experts attending the International Medical Tourism Exhibition and Conference in Muscat this week.

Last year the number of Omanis seeking medical consultations and treatments in the Southeast Asian country rose by around 30 per cent. In 2012, there were approximately 1,000 Omani patients in Malaysian hospitals, while in 2013 there were 1,300.

From the GCC, Omanis are ranked third among medical travellers going to Malaysia, said Shobena Singam, from the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council.

Malaysia was recently ranked third in the world for its healthcare system by International Living. Three of its private hospitals have won international medical tourism awards, and last year 768,000 medical tourists sought treatment there.

"This is one of the very few countries where medical tourism is governed by the governments. We promote only quality medical services. It's all monitored and well-regulated," Singam explained.

In addition to its high quality care and strict regulations, some of the reasons Malaysia is becoming a more popular medical tourism destination, especially for people from the GCC, are the low costs and features that appeal to Muslims, such as access to halal food and prayer rooms in the hospitals, and services in Arabic. Some of the common medical fields in which Omanis seek treatment in Malaysia include cardiology, orthopedics, oncology, ophthalmology, IVF and neurology.

Representatives from leading Malaysian hospitals which offer those specialties took the opportunity to meet with potential patients in Oman and encourage them to consider Malaysia as an option for their healthcare needs.

"Omanis are quite familiar with Malaysia. We see them during the summer season.

"This is another chance to come for medical treatment. Omanis are already very familiar with Thailand [for medical tourism], perhaps because there has always been a direct flight from Oman to Thailand, but now there's also one to Malaysia. We're catching up," said Norhaslina Othman, a senior marketing manager for Pantai Hospitals.

Dato Rustam Yahaya, ambassador of Malaysia to Oman, told journalists there are many advantages for Omanis travelling to Malaysia including no visa requirements, the opportunity to buy property there, and good quality universities at which 2,000 Omani students are currently enrolled, as well as strong healthcare. He said last year 26,601 Omani tourists went to Malaysia, thanks to its reputation as a top tourism destination for health care and much more.

"Malaysia is very active in tourism activities. We are promoting niche markets especially health care tourism, ecotourism, adventure tourism and home-stay programs," said Yahaya.

Source:Times of Oman