HCM City medical tourism guide released

HCM City (VNA) – The Ho Chi Minh City
Department of Tourism and Department of Health on May 23 released a bilingual Medical
Tourism Guide with basic information about travel and healthcare in the city.

The guidebook in Vietnamese and English has the names,
addresses and phone numbers of 14 health facilities in the city, including the
HCM City Heart Institute, Dermato-Venereology Hospital, HCM City Paediatrics
Hospital, Odonto-Maxillo-Facial Hospital, Otalaryngology Hospital, University
Medical Centre, Traditional Medicine Institute, Tu Du Hospital, Hoan My Hospital,
and HCM City International Hospital.

Ten thousand copies will be distributed to tourist
information and support centres, travel agents, hotels, and hospitals in the
city.

The health facilities registered to be listed in the guidebook and were chosen
after meeting the 24 criteria stipulated by the Department of Health related to
facilities, medical staff, check-up and treatment, and prices, Nguyen Thi Huynh
Mai, chief of the Department of Health office, said. 

With a number of quality public and private hospitals,
capable doctors, and low cost of treatment, the city’s hospitals have attracted
a large number of international visitors coming for healthcare, she said.

Many hospitals offer advanced treatment in areas like
organ transplant, robotic surgery, cardiovascular surgery, endoscopic surgery,
obstetric and gynecological diseases, dentistry, and others.

Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, deputy director of the Department of
Tourism, said the city’s medical tourism potential remains untapped.

To fulfil the potential, the two departments have cooperated to promote medical
tourism and the guidebook is part of that cooperation, she said.

The city would focus on promoting medical tourism in
neighbouring markets such as Cambodia and Laos and to overseas Vietnamese, she
said.

Last year, Vietnam attracted around 80,000 foreign
tourists who came for health checks and treatment and spent 2 billion USD.

In HCM City almost 40,000 received medical services costing 1
billion USD. — VNA