00:00Well, experts say there are three main factors for the boom in medical tourism to China.
00:06Advanced technology in the state-of-the-art facilities, the number of hospitals available, and the lower cost.
00:12Well, let's look at cost. A hip replacement costs as much as $48,000 in the United States.
00:19The same treatment in China would be around $13,000.
00:23For an immunotherapy treatment for some blood cancers, it would be close to half a million dollars in the United
00:29States and $80,000 in China.
00:32China has introduced several government incentives to draw in more medical tourists.
00:37This includes easier access to foreign medicines for those pilot zone hospitals, visa-free arrangements for international visitors, and allowing
00:46foreign-owned hospitals in selected cities.
00:49And many medical tourists to China have been sharing their experiences.
00:53on social media.
00:54Amy Brillou-Ogden, who lived in China previously, travelled for treatment from the UK, and her videos, like this one,
01:01went viral.
01:02She told me about the speedy and cost-effective service that she received.
01:07I was in pain. I was worried. I wasn't sure what was going on, and I'd been having symptoms for
01:12a while.
01:12And I was in the kitchen talking to my wife and complaining, saying, you know,
01:17by the time it takes me to get my GP appointment, I could have already flown to China, got it
01:21sorted, and come back.
01:22And then it was almost like a lightbulb moment. And I thought, well, yeah, why don't I just do that
01:28instead of wait all this time?
01:29And that's really what prompted it. And I booked my flight for the very next week, and I got it
01:33sorted within, like, 12 days.
01:35You took to TikTok to detail your medical experience in China, and the posts went viral.
01:42So, at the beginning, I did receive some almost negativity to say, well, that's ridiculous.
01:48Of course, it would be more expensive to go to China than to go private in the UK.
01:53Why don't you just go private in the UK if you want to do that? Blah, blah, blah, blah.
01:56And then as I went through the journey, the tide sort of turned, and they were like, wow, how is
02:02this possible?
02:03How much are you paying?
02:04And so I think it was almost the disbelief, and they thought it would be really, really, really, really expensive.
02:10But then, obviously, my costs were in total under £300 for the medical part, for obviously the endoscopy and the
02:17labs and everything.
02:18And then it was just shock. It really does depend on what it is you're looking to investigate, I would
02:25say.
02:26For example, if you're thinking, you know, let's say cancer, for example, let's say someone has cancer.
02:31That could be very, very, very, very long-term treatment.
02:34Is that something that that person is willing to do in China and live in China for that amount of
02:39time?
02:39That's something to take into consideration.
02:42If it was something else, something like me, I had some stomach issues, I wanted an endoscopy, waiting lists are
02:47like nine months, a year.
02:49Maybe they're not even going to give it to you because they don't think it's severe enough.
02:52These types of procedures are very easily accessible.
02:56And you were so positive about the experience that you set up your own business offering like a medical concierge
03:03-type service.
03:03We connect people from outside of China to the hospitals and to the doctors and we facilitate the journey.
03:12So we don't give medical advice and we don't say, oh, you should do this, you should do that.
03:16But we basically accommodate them throughout.
03:21So they come to me and they say, OK, I'm looking to go to China for X, Y, Z. Is
03:25that possible?
03:26And then what I can do is I can put the options.
03:28There are these types of hospitals available, these types of doctors.
03:31And when they choose what they want, I then make the appointments.
03:36One of my team in Beijing will accommodate them throughout and accompany them through the appointments, translations and everything like
03:42that.
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