“Medical tourism” is a rather recent phenomena, in which (generally first world) travelers visit another nation for the purpose of obtaining some form of healthcare. The primary benefit of medical tourism is the much lower cost of health care or certain procedures. In some cases, alternative therapies and experimental procedures that are illegal in places like the United States and Canada are available from professional medical doctors and regulated hospitals in other nations. You can discover which ones by keeping track of the available cardiology news. But buyer beware: although there are over fifty nations that list “medical tourism” as a national industry, the health care standards, regulations, and practices can vary widely in different parts of the world. Here’s a look at a few popular destinations of medical tourism – places in the Americas, in Europe, and in Asia.
The Americas
Americans are discovering that the Canadians have health care options that are far less expensive but can still expect the same level of quality and professionalism for their health care. In fact, the World Health Organization rates Canada higher than the United States in many health care categories. Citizens of the US who make the trip north of the border will find prices to be on average 30% to 60% lower than at home.
Several Latin American countries, including Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina, have treated foreign patients for cosmetic surgery for many years. Of these three, Colombia can often be the easiest country to get into, due to relaxed visa rules for Europeans and Americans, and is one of the cheapest South American nations to fly to from the United States. Brazil, however, does require a visa for Americans.
Europe
Cyprus, which has one of the largest British expatriate communities in Europe, models its healthcare system on the UK’s, and many of its doctors received their training at UK universities. As such, Cyprus has a fairly good reputation for its medical tourism. The most common procedures in Cyprus for medical tourists are dental work and cosmetic surgery.
Malta, located off the coast of Sicily, is filled with English speakers, part of the European Union, and uses the Euro as its primary currency – making it an easy place for European medical tourists to travel to. Like Cyprus, its healthcare system is modeled after the British system. Some of the Maltese hospitals are even intentionally marketing themselves to medical tourists, especially tourists from the UK.
Asia
In India, the medical tourism business is booming. Americans and Brits often pay only a tenth of what they would pay in their home country for medical treatment, including for treatments such as heart and eye surgery, bone marrow transplants, and hip replacement. The city of Chennai, located in the south of India, accounts for nearly half of all of India’s medical tourism, and has been declared India’s health capital. India’s quality is also improving, making it an increasingly attractive option for medical tourists in need of serious medical procedures.
Other nations in Asia with growing medical tourism options include China, which does not have the best healthcare but which does legal procedures around stem cell therapy and other procedures still deemed experimental in the west; Malaysia, where widely spoken English and excellent hospitals make the future of medical tourism quite bright; and Taiwan, a nation which has established a good reputation in the field of liver transplants and reconstructive surgery.
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