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The article "Foreign patients coming back to S'pore" reported that about 70 per cent of foreign patients turn to private hospitals for treatment, with 30 per cent being treated in public hospitals.
Singapore hospitals are currently facing a shortage of beds, and some patients get to see government specialists only after waiting a couple of months.
Does "medical tourism" contribute to the current crunch?
In the same report, it was mentioned that "according to the Singapore Tourism Board, tourists spent close to $1 billion on medical treatments here in 2011 - an increase over the two previous years".
Medical tourism is indeed a lucrative business.
However, public hospitals should remain "public" and not be profit-oriented.
They should focus on giving priority to Singaporeans seeking medical treatment, and not seek profits to the extent that efficient public health services for Singaporeans are compromised.
I urge public hospitals to re-focus on their core mission, otherwise, with the projected rise in Singapore's population till 2030, the crunch may just get worse.
Edwin Lim