Medical Tourism: Is an End in View?

In this present day and time, there are no limits to what people can do to secure excellent healthcare services anywhere. Apart from the fact that people travel around the world to make memories and have fun, patients have also become global adventurers in the pursuit of wellness, thus the name “Medical tourism”.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines medical tourism as a term commonly used to describe international travel to receive medical care. Countries like Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, India, Germany, Thailand, Singapore, etc. have been highlighted as medical tourism destinations. According to a study, medical tourism in Costa Rica increased around 400 percent between 2014 and 2019, going from 3,941 health travels in 2014 to 19,769 visits for medical purposes in 2019.

Healthcare service cost and quality are the fueling factors for medical tourism according to a report by the National Library of Medicine. Many employers, together with insurance companies prefer medical tourism as an option in lowering healthcare costs. The primary factor driving patients to travel overseas for treatment is the Nation’s ability to provide high-quality medical care at notably reduced costs.

These wellness adventurers travel to these countries not only for life-threatening illnesses like cancer but also for dental care, fertility treatments, transplants, rehabilitation, and aesthetic surgery which has become one of the most popular.

An article by Universal Medicine Travel highlights several advantages attributed to medical tourism. They include but are not limited to low cost of medical procedures compared to country of residence, access to all types of medical procedures, technological advancements, and shorter waiting periods.  It is worthy to note that it is mostly underdeveloped or developing countries that engage in medical tourism because of all the aforementioned.

There is a popular saying that “every coin has two sides” because to every advantage lies a disadvantage as well. Since the number of people who travel for medical assistance is rapidly growing, there are also a lot of risks and complications associated with medical tourism. All medical procedures can be susceptible to the risk of infection, but in cases where the patients have to travel immediately after a major operation, the risks may be higher. In addition, the CDC also highlights some risks like antimicrobial resistance, communication or language barriers, and continuity of care, where patients have to return to their countries without resources to cater for their post-surgical needs.

It is imperative to add that international collaborations between departure and destination countries can help strike a balance. A story by one of the popular Nigerian dailies reveals that an Indian-owned hospital is set to partner with local hospitals in Nigeria to reduce medical tourism. Dr. Karthik Anantharaman, vice president of the hospital highlights that the hospital houses more than 1,000 Nigerian patients yearly, thus the reason for the partnership. “We truly believe that if we can train the Nigerian doctors and the Nigerian doctors have the right skill sets to be able to treat patients locally, a lot more patients can benefit because not everyone will have the money to travel to India or travel to some other country to get the treatment.” He also adds.

More developments like this will further reduce the number of patients going out of their country for treatments. It will also add more value to their local hospitals and facilities.