Verita Life clinic operator targets 25% growth

The group opened its clinic in Bangkok last August to cater to the growing demand for medical care, especially cancer treatments.

"After the official launch of our flagship clinic in Bangkok, there have been many cancer patients from Thailand and overseas coming to receive treatment," said Barry Warrington, country general manager for Thailand.

He said the number of patients was increasing by 20 per cent per month on average. He predicted more foreigners would come to Thailand for travel and for medical check-ups this year thanks to the political stability under the new military regime while the number of local patients was also expected to surge.

Verita Life boasts that it stimulates the immune system of cancer patients who have been operated on and received radiation, thereby helping prevent cancer cells recurring.

It says its treatment programme and rehabilitation of patients can be conducted in conjunction with the hospitals where patients have been treated with chemotherapy and radiation. The World Health Organisation’s "World Cancer Report 2014" estimated that the total number of cancer patients would rise from 14 million to 22 million in the next two decades – a surge of 57 per cent.

The number of cancer victims in Thailand is also rising.

For medical services, Thailand is one of the emerging markets along with India, Malaysia and Singapore.

Southeast Asia is considered a medical-tourism hub with decades of solid economic growth creating high-quality medical systems that remain competitively priced.

The cost of treatments in Thailand is generally one-third of those in Singapore.

In 2013, 2.3 million foreigners visited Thailand for medical treatment at 37 hospitals, compared with 850,000 in Singapore, 700,000 in Malaysia and 81,000 in the Philippines.

The cost of treatments in Malaysia and the Philippines is lower than in Thailand.