Medical tourism and it’s places

Medical tourism and it’s places

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What is Medical tourism?

• Medical tourism refers to people traveling abroad to obtain medical treatment. In the past, this usually referred to those who traveled from less-developed countries to major medical centers in highly developed countries for treatment unavailable at home.[1][2] However, in recent years it may equally refer to those from developed countries who travel to developing countries for lower-priced medical treatments. The motivation may be also for medical services unavailable or non-licensed in the home country: There are differences between the medical agencies (FDA, EMA etc.) world-wide which decide whether a drug is approved in their country or not. Even within Europe, although therapy protocols might be approved by the European Medical Agency (EMA), several countries have their own review organizations in order to evaluate whether the same therapy protocol would be “cost-effective”, so that patients face differences in the therapy protocols, particularly in the access of these drugs, which might be partially explained by the financial strength of the particular Health System.

Popular medical destinations

• Medical tourism, also called health tourism, surgical tourism, or medical travel, international travel for the purpose of receiving medical care. Many patients engage in medical tourism because the procedures they seek can be performed in other countries at relatively low cost and without the delay and inconvenience of being placed on a waiting list. In addition, some patients travel to specific destinations to undergo procedures that are not available in their home country.
• Popular destinations for medical tourism include Brazil, Costa Rica, India, Mexico, Panama, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand. The types of health and medical clinics that cater to medical tourists are often state-of-the-art facilities and are staffed with physicians who possess advanced medical degrees.