Hong Kong has been confirmed as the Asian hub for cancer treatment as well as for medical tourism with the recent opening of the world's first non-governmental Chinese-Western Oncology Rehabilitation Center. This center has been established by a civil organization and is staffed with specialists from China. Providing free medical services to cancer patients, it is hoped that the center's success will lead the way for a trend in combining the best of both the Chinese and Western medical services.
The centers primary purpose is to fully attend to the needs of cancer patients with the simultaneous adoptions of both the Western and Chinese approaches to curing cancer. Western medicine generally uses the approach of 'attacking' the cancer; where as the Chinese approach is to supplement the body's natural resistance and strength. By using Chinese herbs, it is hoped that the unpleasant side effects caused by chemotherapy and radiation treatment will be minimized, providing the patient with a treatment that is as effective and painless as possible.
The center is an innovative institution, but it could be the beginning of a very successful trend. Americans especially find this center intriguing and are starting to make the trip across the world. Hong Kong has been known for a long time as a center for medical tourism, especially for procedures that are not legal in the United States, however the opening of this center has sprung Hong Kong into a whole new world of medical tourists. If it continues to be successful, more and more Americans will travel to Hong Kong for their cancer treatments and for an experience unlike any they could have in the United States.
