KOTA KINABALU: Gleneagles Kota Kinabalu is now offering Lasik surgery service, a product that can help turn Sabah the destination of choice for medical tourism.
Being the only Lasik centre in Sabah, tourists and visitors alike can now undergo bladeless vision correction while they are on a holiday here.
State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the state capital was fast becoming the ideal destination for people, who want to seek medical treatment outside their country.
"With Gleneagles providing its latest product (Lasik service) and other medical services, I am sure it will this leading medical provider with excellent reputation will attract a lot of overseas visitors to Sabah.
"I hope Gleneagles will continue to provide specialized services and make Kota Kinabalu not just a holiday destination but medical travel destination," he said after launching the Lasik Service Centre and #LoseTheGlasses campaign at Gleneagles Hospital here.
He said the lasik service has also offered customer convenience, particularly among the locals as they no longer need to travel to the peninsula to for eye laser surgery.
Present at the launching were Gleneagles Kota Kinabalu Hospital chief executive officer Jean-Francois Naa, the hospital's Resident Consultant Ophthalmologist and Refractive Surgeon Dr Sim Pek Eng, and Mercy Malaysia Sabah Chapter chairperson Dr Anbarasu Ramalingam.
Since Gleneagles was established here three years ago, Naa noted there has been a number of people from abroad coming more often to seek medical treatment.
"It is understood that these people don't always trust the medical care in their (own) country and by coming here (for medical purposes), we can assure they will get quality care and service.
"Gleneagles KK has also associated with tour agencies and we have had about 200 Chinese tourists coming here to do health screening. We also expect tourists to do lasik with us. So this is one way we can develop medical tourism in Sabah," he said.
Since the launching of Sabah's first Lasik centre, 10 people have signed-up for the Lasik procedure, which takes only about 20 minutes.