Added: 02/07/2006 |
Medical tourism is actually thousands of years oldHealth tourism is the travel to a different country or state for health related reasons.The main driver of health tourism is the lack of facilities in the home country, exorbitant cost of treatment in the home country,no or minimal insurance cover,anominty and possiblity of a holiday with health care. The nations that are being benefitted from it are India,Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Here the cost of treatment will be 20% of what it is in the developed countries in the west and the quality of care is also at par or superior than in the developed countries.Health tourism has become a common form of vacationing, such as adventure or nature tours, and covers a broad spectrum of medical services.
What's called medical tourism - patients going to a different country for either urgent or elective medical procedures - is fast becoming a worldwide, multibillion-dollar industry.
The reasons patients travel for treatment vary. Many medical tourists from the United States are seeking treatment at a quarter or sometimes even a 10th of the cost at home. From Canada, it is often people who are frustrated by long waiting times. From Great Britain, the patient can't wait for treatment by the National Health Service but also can't afford to see a physician in private practice. For others, medical tourism is a chance to combine a tropical vacation with elective or plastic surgery.And more patients are coming from poorer countries such as Bangladesh where treatment may not be available.
Medical tourism is actually thousands of years old. In ancient Greece, pilgrims and patients came from all over the Mediterranean to the sanctuary of the healing god, Asklepios, at Epidaurus. In Roman Britain, patients took the waters at a shrine at Bath, a practice that continued for 2,000 years. From the 18th century wealthy Europeans traveled to spas from Germany to the Nile. In the 21st century, relatively low-cost jet travel has taken the industry beyond the wealthy and desperate.
Countries that actively promote medical tourism include Cuba, Costa Rica, Hungary, India, Israel, Jordan, Lithuania, Malaysia and Thailand. Belgium, Poland and Singapore are now entering the field. South Africa specializes in medical safaris-visit the country for a safari, with a stopover for plastic surgery, a nose job and a chance to see lions and elephants.Thailand has been the goal for Americans.
India, for example, initially attracted people who had left that country for the West; Thailand treated western expatriates across Southeast Asia. Many of them worked for western companies and had the advantage of flexible, worldwide medical insurance plans geared specifically at the expatriate and overseas corporate markets.
With the growth of medical-related travel and aggressive marketing, Bangkok became a centre for medical tourism in Thailand. Bangkok's International Medical Centre offers services in 26 languages, recognizes cultural and religious dietary restrictions and has a special wing for Japanese patients.
The medical tour companies that serve Thailand often put emphasis on the vacation aspects, offering post-recovery resort stays.
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