LEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE TRAVEL
OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE TRAVEL
SHERENE AZLI , CEO MHTC
Having seen its medical tourism industry flourish over most of the last decade , Malaysia had been hoping for more of the same in 2020 . But not even the most well-informed analyst could have predicted the events of the past year .
In March , a virus that had had hitherto been seen as a distant threat forced Malaysia and many other countries to close their borders and lock down their population .
What was expected to be a year of continued success for healthcare in Malaysia on the world stage — as the country continued its bid to become the fertility and cardiology hub of Asia and to court more healthcare travellers to its hospitals — turned out to be a challenging one .
Despite the setback , no one was more suited to navigate this year ’ s challenges and to ready the medical tourism industry for its postcoronavirus future than Sherene Azli .
As Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council ( MHTC ), the government agency mandated to promote and facilitate the country ’ s healthcare travel industry , Sherene more than deserved this year ’ s special award for Outstanding Leadership in Healthcare Travel .
In 2011 , just 643,000 health travellers had arrived in the country for treatment . By 2019 , that number had more than doubled to roughly 1.3 million , earning the country more than MYR1.7 billion ( USD420 million ) in hospital receipts , with a total economic impact of MYR7 billion ( USD1.7 billion ).
Sherene Azli
Malaysia ’ s healthcare travel industry had outperformed its regional and global counterparts by growing at an average rate of 16 percent annually since 2015 , the year Sherene assumed her role at MHTC after an impressive rise through the ranks of Malaysian government-linked companies .
The pandemic , however , has put a break on this meteoric rise , with 2020 and 2021 expected to show much lower revenues than the industry has become accustomed to . This year alone , the agency has set a revenue target of just MYR500 million ( USD124 million ), a drop of up to 75 percent below its initial goal of MYR2 billion ( USD500 million ) for 2020 .
Still , healthcare travel has the future potential to contribute up to MYR10 billion ( USD2.5 billion ) to the economy once the industry recovers , according to Sherene .
“ Healthcare travel has been earmarked as a key economic growth driver for the country and , in particular , for post-coronavirus economic recovery ,” Sherene told
Global Health Asia-Pacific . While the potential is there , she acknowledges that one of the biggest challenges the industry now faces is how to preserve the level of trust that patients formerly had in Malaysian healthcare .
“ The largest hurdle to overcome is the notion of fear . Healthcare destinations will be met with more reluctance by patients to leave their homes and seek medical treatment elsewhere .
“ On that note , MHTC is fast working on its industry recovery plans to showcase the potential that Malaysia ’ s healthcare travel industry holds . We have already been quick to work together in reopening the country for healthcare travel via a medical travel bubble that ensures the safety of the nation and international patients alike ,” she said .
Sherene now forecasts a threeyear recovery period during which she hopes the industry will rebound . Once commercial travel resumes , the Malaysia Year of Healthcare Travel campaign which was scheduled to run in 2020 , will be relaunched .
Other initiatives will include the resumption of MHTC ’ s longstanding goal of establishing Malaysia ’ s identity as the fertility and cardiology hub of Asia , while also affirming the country ’ s identity as a centre of excellence for oncology .
“ Like any other industry , medical tourism will take some time to recover . The new normal is here to stay forever , and global healthcare travel industries will have to adapt to this ,” Sherene said .
16 DECEMBER 2020 GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com