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Ranked by the World Health Organization as having the best health system in Asia - ahead of Japan and the US - the Southeast Asian nation offers specialized healthcare treatments and superb healthcare facilities, most of which are internationally accredited by the Joint Commission International. In 2003, an independent survey published by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, revealed that expatriates in Asia had rated Singapore healthcare system third in the world, behind the United States and Australia.
"We have enjoyed a friendly relationship with the United Arab Emirates for many years. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew is currently in Abu Dhabi after previously visiting Dubai in November 2005, underscoring our commitment for greater co-operation at all levels. Singapore and the United Arab Emirates are currently exploring new avenues for knowledge exchange and sharing expertise in areas of mutual benefit,"
says Dr. Sadasivan.
Singapore is Asia's leading destination for international medical services. In 2004, more than 320,000 international patients traveled there for a whole range of medical care, including health screening, eye, heart and brain surgery, and cancer treatment.
Over the past five years, Singapore has become a destination of choice for residents of the UAE seeking treatment abroad. One of the reasons for its increasing popularity is the availability of services which only a few countries specialize in, such as stem cell transplants and advanced robotic surgery.
For example, the Haematology Department at Singapore General Hospital has been at the forefront of treatment for a variety of blood disorders since it carried out its first haematopoeitic stem cell transplant 20 years ago. Since then, doctors have carried out more than 700 such transplants at the centre, including the world's first successful peripheral blood stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor on a five-year-old Malaysian child in 1995.
"We have seen an increasing number of patients from the Middle East seeking healthcare in Singapore attracted by our cutting edge technology, quality treatment and safe blood supply and we feel that it would be highly beneficial to share some of our expertise with facilities in the region. At the same time, we are extremely impressed at the scale and vision of the plans for an advanced health service being developed within the United Arab Emirates," said Dr. Sadasivan.
In addition to the government meetings, a group of Singaporean healthcare providers is participating in Arab Health 2006 under the SingaporeMedicine pavilion.
Posted by Anne-Birte Stensgaard, Senior News Editor
