02-Feb-17 Aiming to attract more tourists and boost trade, the Indian government has approved a new liberalised visa policy that includes a long-term multiple-entry comprehensive visa by merging tourist, business, medical and conference visas into one. Citizens from Pakistan and China will not be covered under the new liberalised visa policy. [image: IMTJ]

01-Feb-17 Malaysia is a popular destination for tourists from the Middle East, with nearly 200,000 arriving in 2016. The country is a key destination for medical tourism. In neighboring Thailand, tourism officials said the US ban could lift visitor numbers. "The Middle East is a big market for us, especially in the medical tourism sector," said Tourism Authority Governor Yuthasak Supasorn. [image: Reuters]

01-Feb-17 Medical tourists are coming to Malaysia, lured by high-quality yet affordable healthcare and the climate. “It’s more lucrative than conventional tourism because healthcare travellers tend to stay longer,” MATTA vice-president S. Jayakumar said. The country welcomed about 850,000 medical tourists in 2015 with revenue of MYR900 mn (USD203 mn) compared with MYR777 mn (USD175 mn) in 2014. [image: The Star]

01-Feb-17 The Middle East region, which includes some countries that are a target of Trump's ban, is the top source of patients who travel to the US for medical care. The travel ban could prompt international patients to skip the US and take their dollars elsewhere, such as to Germany or Thailand. [image: Wikimedia Commons]

31-Jan-17 Columbia Asia has been providing tele-radiology services since 2010, for remote areas in India, Indonesia, France, Saudi, Bahrain, Kenya and Uganda. The group has tied up with PDMD-Cameroon for provision of tele-radiology, tele-consult and tele-education. In March 2017, PDMD will start a polyclinic with diagnostic facilities in Douala, equipped with MRI, CT, mammography, X-ray, USG and laboratory facilities. [image: Columbia Asia]