Medical Tourism is a term related to people who travel abroad to obtain medical treatment. There are instances that people travelled for better medical treatment. Years ago people from the under developed or less developed countries used to visit developed or highly developed countries to get best medical treatment which is not available in his country or if available, that is not trustworthy. But in the recent years it has been seen that people from the developed countriesor even highly developed countriesalso visitdeveloping countries to get better medical facilities comparatively on a low price. The reason may also be explained in the way that these type medical services are not available or non-licensed in that particular country or if at all available, it may be cost worthy or otherwise. However it may be, there are differences between the medical agencies worldwide. It may so happen that in a particular country a medicine or a medical treatment is licensed or legalized but the same medicine or that specialized treatment is not available or cost effective in another country. As there are differences between medical agencies it comes under some therapy protocols in most of the European countries, and there are some countries which have their own review system to evaluate the cost effectiveness of that particular treatment. Therefore, patients face differences in the treatment procedure and access to the specific drugs under different health systems. The reasons behind the medical tourism’s increasing popularity are ease and affordability of international travel and up-gradation of medical technology and standards of health care. There is another factor that leads to its increasing popularity are the avoidance of waiting time. Sometimes it is unbelievable that the same medical or surgical treatment is done in a fraction of the amount taken in another country. But largely the medical treatment is carried out in another country due to long wait times.
Medical tourism is often for medical surgeries or for similar treatment. But dental tourism and fertility tourism are also in the list of such travels. Of course people travel in utmost circumstances and for better gains to a country where health and medication is better understood and well taken care of. Study in UK without IELTS. Health tourism or wellness tourism is a broader term where all types of medical treatments and health care services are included ranging from preventive health care treatment to rehabilitation and curative forms of treatments.
The developed countries such as United States of America and UK and other European countries have large growth prospects of medical tourism which can have destabilizing implications in these countries economy. A report from Deloitte Consultancy suggests that the medical tourism can cost the exchequers to the extent of billions of dollars to these countries for the increasing growth in the medical tourism industry. The insurance coverage is another factor in the growth of medical tourism in these countries where either surgeries are not covered or there is some limit in the choices of availing the facility.
Medical tourism exemplifies also the area of assisted pregnancy like in-vitro fertilization or surrogacy or even freezing embryos for retro-production. Cosmetic surgery is one of such reasons for undertaking medical tourism and there are some reports that upper class or even middle class women in these countries undergo some form of medical surgeries. The concept of medical tourism is not taken in the right spirit as it involves some risks. Politics can play sometimes a vital role in deciding the destinations of such medical tourisms.
There is an industry grown up in the form of assistance to medical tourism. They have been developed as mediators who provide helps to the medical tourists in contacting surgeons, hospitals and other medical institutions. It is found that some medico surgeons in the United Kingdom or United States of America have contacts with these medical tourism providers and they even travel to Mexico or other countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ukraine or even Thailand to treat patients and for conducting medical surgeries.
Circumvention tourism is conducted by some people and they undertake journey to access medical services in country where it is considered as legal but illegal in their home country. Fertility treatments,abortion and doctor assisted suicide are not allowed in some countries and these are getting done in another countries.
