About that new field called medical tourism

If you’ve been watching those fabulous advertisements on tourism shown regularly on satellite television on CNN or BBC like Malaysia declaring itself as "Truly Asia," there is a new entry to this tourism advertisement game and that’s "Incredible India" with its own beautiful advertisement. But not contented with just a tourism ad, India has embarked on a new campaign entitled "Global Healthcare Destination" as part of its "Incredible India" campaign. For all intents and purposes, the ad sells the best of the great ideas to get yourself a vacation and have a medical operation all in one trip and thus save a lot of money in the process.

I’ve been hearing about the Philippines also preparing to go into medical tourism... after all, we are still a very inexpensive place to visit. However, we have two problems we need to solve... first is the cost of medicines, which our fellow columnist Jarius Bondoc wrote in his column on Oct. 23. I’m taking Plendil ER 5mg for my blood pressure and yes, it costs P36 upwards per pop, while in India it only costs the equivalent of P4.58 and this goes the same with most of the medicines sold here. On this alone, we could never hope to compete with India unless our lawmakers can think up of something that would bring the prices of medicines down. The other problem is our "diaspora" where a great number of our doctors who are already working here are taking up nursing so they could end up working in the US or other countries. This goes for nurses as well. My daughter Katrina who is reviewing for the nursing licensure exams come December just told me that her instructors in the review centers are also leaving for abroad... that means, we’ll even run out of good nursing teachers, not just nurses!

My high school buddy and best friend, Tony Rizarri, who is a nurse anesthetist, was in Cebu for a short visit and he told me that the huge demand for nurses in the US would not dissipate in the next 10 years because few Americans are taking up nursing these days. By then, his age group would already be eligible for retirement. But yes, we must try to find ways to kick-start a medical tourism industry... perhaps if we succeed in that, we just may bring those doctors and nurses back to our shores.

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The comments we wrote about the incident involving presidential daughter Luli Arroyo sparked a lot of interest among our readers, some of them quite emotional as it also happened to them. Here’s a couple of letters from our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who should be heard. Their letters are self-explanatory and I need not comment anymore.

"Dear Mr. Avila, I was reading with interest your column about Luli Arroyo’s unfortunate incident with BI officers. You’re right, the rudeness and arrogance displayed by BI officers at NAIA is beyond compare. I am an OFW working with an American company as a site physician. Every three months I go back to Manila for a short vacation; most of the time I pass through the immigration booth at NAIA, BI officers are unsmiling and snarl at the questions you ask, and if you happen to get an answer, (they) deliver it to you arrogantly.

"I guess it is high time that these people re-enroll in grade school for a GMRC class to improve their attitude or maybe just replace them with new ones. I’ve heard that Mr. Padlan has been with BI for 30 years, according to his supervisor. Obviously he is tired of his job; retirement is a good option for him. Dr. Jovito C. Cuya Jr., Cape Town, South Africa [email protected]"

Here’s the other e-mailed letter also on the same topic:

"Hi sir, Bobit, what about those other employees at the airport? What is your take on employees who work at the baggage screening section? I recall vividly a few Christmases ago when I came home for a Christmas break. I (arrived from) Taiwan (where I was) an OFW. What was appalling to me was that the woman who had frisked and scanned me at the baggage section happened to be making me hear her pleas. Ulaw kaayo because while she was searching for anything in my body, she said to me, ‘Maam, wala bang pang-giveaway? Pasko kasi eh, walang bonus.’

"I was just shocked to hear it from her. I was trying to load my baggage into an airport cart after being scanned en route to my domestic flight to Cagayan de Oro and she sounded like begging for the bed comforters I had brought with me. Bigay ko na lang daw yung isa sa kanya. Isn’t this very embarrassing? Here I am, working my ass off in Taiwan, trying to provide for my family, and here comes this lady who works at the airport, very relaxed and not sweating at all. Tapos makagahum pa’g mangayo. So shameful and disgusting.

"I also had a brush with airport porters/crew at the international arrival section whom you thought would help you in your plight. I was waiting for my fiancé for his arrival from the US because we agreed to meet and since I had no idea that if you booked a hotel and a taxi to pick you up, your arrival would just be at the (upper) ramp and not at the arrival extension area.

"So a Bol-anon porter or crew who worked there approached me to help locate him. He was able to find my fiancé since they had access to the arrival area and when I was about to board the taxi with my fiancé I ended up having a shouting match with this guy because he wanted to charge me $20 plus tip for the help he had given me. I gave him 15 bucks but to him it wasn’t enough. Datu daw ng kano and no, it’s unreasonable for me to be cheap and haggling. Shame on this people. Di na lang kahulat ug tagaan.

"(It was a) very disheartening experience, and after that my fiancé — now my hubby — refused to come home with me for a visit to the Philippines. Isn’t this very discouraging to foreigners who are abused by airport porters? I’m coming home on Holy Week again. I’m hoping I won’t meet these rude people at the airport anymore, much more the rude, rogue immigration officers. Next time, I’ll take note of their names and ID numbers so I can report them to you in case they mess up with me, okay?

"We need to hire very courteous and polite people at the airport to attract more foreigners to come to our country. Get rid of those bad eggs at the airport. Salamat, sir. I love your column. I read Philstar every day online and so with your column when it’s there. (By the way) my name is Riza. I’m presently residing in the US state of PA. Thanks, sir, for your expose. More power to you! Best regards, Riza Ceballos, [email protected]"

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns in The Freeman can also be accessed through The Philippine STAR website (www.philstar.com). He also hosts a weekly talkshow, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable. Bobit’s columns can also be accessed at www.shootinginsidecebu.blogspot.com.