Medical tourism is old news for Singapore. For over ten years, this is a steadily operating and continually developing health care sector. This small country managed to gain leading positions in medical service to overseas patients not just in the Asian region, but all around the globe. Such results were achieved only owing to various state programs, which increased the financing of medical services to overseas patients fourfold. Today the destination has a successfully functioning ultramodern health care system equal to those of the USA and Western Europe. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), state health care system of Singapore for years in a row has been in the top ten of world bests. Occupying the sixths position, Singapore has outpaced Austria (9 position), Germany (25 position), and Israel (28 position).
Most medical centers of Singapore, oriented primarily on overseas patients, are private owned. They offer a wide choice of medical services in the field of surgical treatment, dentistry, and alternative medicine among others. The most demanded procedures are hip and knee joint replacement, heart and eye surgery.
Singapore boasts highly skilled medical personnel. Many of the specialists have undergone training and professional improvement in the USA and Western Europe. Strict and uncompromised selection process applies both for doctors and nurses. Nurse training is afforded special attention: nurses here are competent to prescribe or withhold medications, work with cutting-edge diagnostic equipment, and even provide psychological support.
Local medicine has its own traditions and employs world achievements. The surgeons of Singapore managed to successfully divide Siamese twins after a 90-hour surgery. Particularly outstanding results were achieved in the treatment of oncology, hematology, cardiologic diseases, and reproductive medicine. Transplantology and cosmetic surgery are developing very rapidly.
In many state and private clinics there are special centers for providing organizational support to overseas patients. In these convenient centers a medical tourist can receive detailed information on clinics and the list of services offered. Caring staff members will answer all questions of interest to the patient, arrange an appointment with a needed specialist, and resolve all organizational issues, including translator’s services, transfers, and hotel accommodation. This is the reason why the number of patients arriving from the European countries, the USA, and the neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia is continually increasing. According to the official statistics, each year the number of medical tourists in the country exceeds 95,000 people.
Singapore has also long been known for the excellent level of medical services and unsurpassed personalized care. Individual approach in selecting treatment methods, affordable prices, outstanding working style, patient support and help is provided 24 hours a day. The service in both state and private clinics is not inferior to five star hotels. Staff in medical centers has a good mastery of English, Chinese, French, and German, sometimes even Russian. Eighteen medical centers in Singapore have been accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI) — this is almost one-third of all JCI-accredited medical centers in the Asian region.
Best Traveling Time: January through April, July through October