Research firm forecasts 8.4% annual rise in healthcare spending

Asia-Pacific healthcare expenditures could increase by as much as 150 per cent over the period, or by 2.9 per cent a year to $2.9 trillion.

The Asia-Pacific region will represent 34.6 per cent of the global healthcare market by 2015.

Rhenu Bhuller, Frost & Sullivan’s vice president for healthcare in Asia and the Pacific, said yesterday that spending on public health was under the government’s Bt1.4-trillion economic stimulus package that ends this year.

Healthcare expenditures will rise in the forecast period to Bt400 billion, she said at the presentation of the "Frost & Sullivan Thailand Outlook 2012: Chemicals, Materials and Healthcare".

Demand for private medical treatment has been growing in Thailand because of such challenges as long waiting times and deteriorating service in the public sector. The private medical-insurance market has also been expanding and is providing a large push for the private medical sector.

Medical tourism contributes significantly to private hospitals’ revenue. International accreditations are likely to become the prerequisite for hospitals aiming to participate in medical tourism, Bhuller said.