Neoliberal Governance and International Medical Travel in Malaysia by Meghann Ormond

Author:Meghann Ormond [Ormond, Meghann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, General
ISBN: 9780415502382
Google: bs4CnJSakCcC
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-01-15T04:45:42+00:00

Echoing the ‘Malaysia, Truly Asia’ campaign in what cultural theorist George Yúdice (2003: 177) has dubbed a ‘human rainbow ad’, the main government webpages dedicated to promoting IMT (Ministry of Health Malaysia 2009; Tourism Malaysia 2009a) urge, ‘It must be Malaysia!’ against backdrops of cutting-edge medical equipment and an array of concerned yet spirited multi-ethnic medical staff, portraying ‘Truly Asia’ Malaysians as unified by their common concern for ensuring the best for their international guests and deftly gliding over the country's own internal linguistic, ethnic and religious tensions.

Following the National Economic Action Council's recommendation for IMT to be used as a driver for economic development during the Asian Financial Crisis, guidelines – largely reiterated with the launch of the Economic Transition Programme in 2010 – were set up for identifying suitable sending countries (Ministry of Health Malaysia 2002: 106; Chee 2007: 10; Pemandu 2010: 568). Three broad patient-consumer markets were marked for expansion, categorized by their respective economic value to Malaysia. First are the ‘value-for-money’ patient-consumers from neighbouring Asian countries (e.g. Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh), perceived to lack sufficient access to quality medical care, who are looking for both regular health check-ups and in-patient procedures. The second – those in the ‘health care plus tourism’ group – includes those from more distant countries (e.g. Japan, China and Western countries) in which medical care is expensive enough to make patient-consumers look abroad to save money and those frustrated with their socialized health care systems in which waiting times for routine procedures are common but who require additional draws to take a long-haul flight to Malaysia. The third focuses on those seeking ‘high-quality health care at a reasonable price’ (e.g. the Middle East and Singapore). The government plans to launch marketing campaigns for the different segments, with the intention of attracting more of the ‘higher-value’ patient-consumers (Pemandu 2010). For each of these segments, Malaysia's internal diversity has been touted as a strength via appeals to cultural similarities with other Asians, Westerners and Middle Easterners. Yet there are significant differences between the targeted markets and the existing patient-consumers receiving care in Malaysia (see Table 4.1 and Figure 4.1). While the vast majority of foreign patient-consumers entering Malaysia hail from its immediate neighbours, there is a fixation within the industry on tapping into the ‘gold mine’ Western and Middle Eastern markets. Below, I focus on existing efforts at capturing one of the ‘higher-value’ groups: Middle Eastern Muslims.

Table 4.1 Distribution of foreign patient-consumers by nationality in Malaysia (2002–4/2006–8)

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