Malaysia

Can Malaysia be the preferred healthcare hub in the region? If so, what needs to be done to ensure it becomes a reality and not just wishful thinking?

These women traveled the world for cheaper surgery

Jeanne Bennett, 50

Hip resurfacing, June 2005, India

She saved: $30,000*

Why I went abroad: "The surgery wasn't FDA-approved, so my insurance wouldn't cover the cost." (Read her story here.)

You can have surgery for less than half the price, but only in countries where you wouldn't drink the water. Is "medical tourism" a brilliant solution - or a too-risky business?

The Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board's (MTPB) New York's office will aggressively court US medical and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) segment and promote the traditional leisure tourists to Malaysia.

When Roberta Berger of St. Petersburg traveled to Malaysia to get hip replacement surgery last November, she became part of a growing industry that is pushing an unorthodox solution to this problem: medical tourism.