Pakistan doctor advises on China's medical tourism industry
BEIJING, Aug 17th (Gwadar Pro) -“Medical tourism is that people take a trip to other countries to get good health facilities. There is a need for this thing between Pakistan and China,” said Dr. Muhammad Shahbaz, president of China Pakistan Medical Association (CPMA). “In my opinion, Pakistan patients should reach China for treatment, the quantity now is too little. Due to Covid-19, there are too many visa issues, and flights are not coming, a lot of difficulties are there.”
“I did my master’s degree and Ph.D. in China. In the last 15 years, I have seen that a lot of work has been done in China to enhance the technology of artificial intelligence, big data, augmented and virtual reality, and telemedicine. Top-class universities and hospitals in China are included in the list of the world's top 500 universities and hospitals. Pakistan medical technology has not progressed to this extent, while our population has crossed more than 21 crores. In this regard, there is a dire need of medical cooperation between Pakistan and China.”
“Since China did not have much medical contact with the outside world, foreign patients don’t know China’s real medical level. This is also why in the global medical tourism industry which is worth USD 700 billion, the market occupied by China is 0,” said Li Dinggang, executive president of medicine of Beijing Lu Daopei Hematology Hospital. Shahbaz also agreed that one reason for the little number of Pakistan patients who come to China for treatment is that China does not market itself enough. “Except for the language barrier, one problem is that we do not have a platform to develop a connection between nations and related institutions. There is also a shortage of awareness and medical knowledge.” Shahbaz suggested that a platform that provides medical knowledge to other counties should be established and information about which kind of diseases can be treated in China should also be provided by them. “In China， there are the world’s top-class hospitals, organizations, professors and technologies. Technologies like cancer chemotherapy and telemedicine are quite advanced. Traditional medical therapies are also used a lot.”
“A lot of government-to-government cooperations are happening between Pakistan and China. A lot of information is shared and agreements are done. However, the exchange of thought is not adequate, this is another problem. Technology transfer is very important. China has done a lot of progress in the last 10 years. There is a need of thoughts exchange regarding technology. There should be seminars and conferences organized between China and Pakistan.” Shahbaz said, adding that China and Pakistan should make a 5-year or 10-year medical cooperation plan and related policies so that maximum people can get benefit from it.
