A 5-year old girl from the Middle East is suffering from Thalassemia, also called Mediterranean anemia. She has been admitted to Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital in Korea to cure her disease. Her doctor said that she is on a complete stage after having had a stem cell transplantation done. Despite MERS outbreak swept in Korea in 2015, 280,000 international patients visited Korea for medical purposes, which has increased by 5% compared to 2014. A few years ago, the main purpose to visit Korea for major foreign patient’ were cosmetic procedures. Also, Chinese and Americans showed the highest interest to Korean medical market. However, it changed a lot. Recently, people from the Middle East and Russia, who need cancer treatment and heart diseases, are the largest consumers. Korean government plans to support over 160 companies for offshore business by 2017 and expect to attract 500,000 overseas patients a year.
