Malaysia is winner of the Health and Medical Tourism Destination of the Year award, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.

He posted the news on his social media accounts, thanking frontliners for their hard work.

“This award is dedicated to all stakeholders in #malaysiahealthcare.

“Excellent performance in 2019/2020. Once again, my heartiest congratulations to the entire team,” he said.

The accolade is conferred by the International Medical Travel Journal (IMTJ) Awards 2020 which celebrates achievements in the medical travel, medical tourism and health tourism industry.

Medical tourism has thrived in Malaysia over the years, attracting 1.3 million medical tourists in 2019 and surpassing the United States’ log of 550,000 

This makes Malaysia the top medical tourism destination for last year, said the UK-based IMTJ.

According to the Medical Tourism Malaysia website, medical costs for health travellers in the country are 65 to 80% cheaper than medical costs in the US. – September 23, 2020.