“I have noticed that your chart of Woolworths in South Africa ends at 1st March 2012. Could this be updated please? You might also want to remove Dimension Data which was delisted some time ago.

“Finally, please would you add Mediclinic to the South African list; and, are you aware of any non-SA companies that are listed and that offer similar clinic/hospital services in the private sector? The big US companies seem mostly to offer health insurance rather than medical services. SA private sector clinics have been very successful but are under threat of government interference. With aging populations in the OECD countries, this seems a sensible avenue of investment.”

Eoin Treacy's view Thank you for alerting us to these data issues which have been corrected. I have also added Mediclinic to the Chart Library. The medical clinic and elderly care sectors, as you point out, are growth areas. Funeral services benefit from the same trend. I have highlighted Australia's Ramsay Healthcare on a number of occasions not least for its high yield and because it is an S&P Pan Asia Dividend Aristocrat. The most recent was in Comment of the Day on May 2nd.

I also posted a piece on medical tourism in Comment of the Day on November 9th 2011 which may be of interest.

Here is a link to piece on US Healthcare REITS dated January 25th 2011 which may also be of interest.

I performed a search on Bloomberg for companies in similar sectors to Mediclinic and returned 49 results. Brazil's Fleury is in a relatively consistent uptrend and New Zealand's Ryman Healthcare is susceptible to a reversion towards the mean.

Germany's Fresenius SE has just offered to acquire Rhoen Klinikum hospitals and is a major medical devices company. The separately listed Fresenius Medical Care has a similar pattern and is an S&P Europe 350 Dividend Aristocrat.