Currently ranked number six in the world as a leading healthcare system, and Asia’s number one healthcare destination by WHO, Singapore has solidified its position as a healthcare destination for medical tourists seeking affordable, high quality medical attention, according to a recent market research.

Each year Singapore receives more than half a million international visitors seeking a wide array of medical procedures.

In both the private and public sectors, Singapore’s hospitals and medical centers have achieved outcomes that equal, and even surpass, those in the developed West – making the island-nation a preferred choice among Middle East-based individuals looking for cost-effective, world-class medical attention.

There are several indicators used worldwide to benchmark the quality of hospital care, some of which include methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection rate and the time lag for commencement of antibiotic therapy.

The “superbug” MRSA is a highly dangerous and drug resistant bacterium known to cause hospital-acquired infections. A low-MRSA rate indicates greater effectiveness of infection control measures being implemented.

“For the first half of 2008, we have consistently achieved lower-than-target MRSA rate of 0.33 in our hospitals,” said Dr S Thanasekaran, chief medical officer at ParkwayHealth, one of Singapore’s premier private healthcare groups. “This compares very favourably to the US national average of around 2.4 per cent, as published in the American Journal of Infection Control.”

Another indicator often used as a pointer for good hospital care is the response time for the administration of emergency medication. The timely use of antibiotics in cases of pneumonia caused by bacteria, for example, can lower the mortality rate by as much as 15 per cent.

“The current standard internationally is for antibiotic therapy to begin within four hours after admission. We have successfully kept above the 90th percentile mark even as we aim for 100 per cent compliance. This compares well to the US national average of around 80 per cent,” added Dr Thanasekaran.

Singapore’s status as an excellent medical destination extends to the nation’s public hospitals, which have emerged as specialists in fields such as cardiology, gynecology and obstetrics.

The National University Hospital (NUH), one of the region’s top teaching and medical research hospitals, has consistently achieved critical acclaim backed by statistics for its cardiology program.

Recently published indicators showed that NUH has up to 75 per cent fewer heart failure mortalities within a 30-day period compared to its peers. In addition, the hospital’s re-hospitalization rate for heart failure patients is significantly lower than the international standard.

“Singapore’s medical infrastructure is well designed to cater to all types of medical concerns. We hope that, with Singapore’s close proximity to the Middle East, more medical patients from the region seeking treatment across all medical areas will choose Singapore to meet their needs,” said Jason Ong, area director for the Middle East and Africa, Singapore Tourism Board.

Singapore’s advanced healthcare facilities cater to medical patients who are in need of procedures that range from simple cosmetic and commoditized surgeries such as hip replacements, to highly specialized tertiary and quaternary services for critical illnesses and relatively rare conditions. – Trade