Do you know…
that there are about 360 non-western clinics, comprising 28 per cent of the general medical clinics operating in Singapore? These are mainly operated by practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The number of non-western general medical
clinics has increased by an impressive 59 per cent during 1990 – 1998. The number of western general medical clinics rose by a smaller 35 per
cent.
Non-western general medical clinics outperformed their western counterparts in 1990s. Their operating receipts and value added grew substantially at an average annual rate of 21 per cent and 24
per cent respectively for the period 1990 - 1998. In contrast,
the corresponding growth rates for western clinics were 11 per cent and 13 per cent per annum (see Chart 1). This reflected the growing acceptance of non-western medical services by the general population. The rising demand for non-western medical services was also evidenced by its double-digit average annual growth rates for operating receipts and value added on a per establishment basis (see Chart 2).
Despite their rapid growth,
non-western medical clinics' share in terms of operating receipts and value added constituted a small proportion of the total for clinics and medical services. Operating receipts of non-western clinics stood at $57.6 million in 1998, contributing to 9.7 per cent of the total. Their value-added of $30.8 million made up only 8.6 per cent of the market share.
