Medical Tourism is the practice of patients travelling
overseas to get medical procedures and medical treatment at the affordable
rates. Medical tourism is booming, mainly in the third world countries, where
the governments are paying great attention to high quality medical services. In
2013, 100,000 U.S. Citizens traveled abroad for medical treatment, according to
data of medical
tourism association.
And, the number of patients travelling abroad is expected to increase in forth
coming years. The reason is simple; people in U.S. don’t have or can’t afford
medical insurance, and they want to look for cost-effective high quality
medical treatment.
Medical tourism is not opted by
Americans alone. According to reports, more than 9 million patients across the
globe go for medical tourism and gets medical treatment overseas, thus
contributing to medical
tourism industry
colossal figure of $30-$40 billion per year.
Medical tourism brings many
facilities other than cost effectiveness such as high tech medical equipments,
quick treatment procedures without much waiting, and avoiding taboos from
family and friends.
Cardiovascular, cosmetic and
orthopedic treatments are most sought for treatments in medical tourism. Here
is the list of most popular destinations for medical
tourism which
you can’t ignore reading about if you have to decide for the right place for
medical procedures.
Medical Tourism in Mexico
Medical tourism association estimates that about 500,000 to 1
million patients chose Mexico as their destination for medical procedures in
2013. The variation in figures is because of uncertainty in documentation of
number of people living in American states of Arizona, California, and Texas
travelling to Mexico for the medical treatment. The common border of Mexico and
U.S. makes Mexico more accessible to U.S. citizens to travel easily to Mexico.
This is the reason why 60,000 Americans travel cross the border for mainly
cosmetic and dentistry procedures.
The medical treatments
available in Mexico are Weigh loss surgeries and cosmetic surgeries. The places
near in Mexico such as Monterry and Juarez comprises of medical centers
offering weight-reduction programs to obese patients at cost usually 50-70 %
below to that in U.S.
Medical Tourism in India
India is
the fastest growing place for medical tourism. The
country is expected to earn revenue of 4 billion dollars at the end of ongoing
year, moving up from 2 billion dollars in 2010, according to Deloitte report of
2014. India experiences flow of more than 200,000 global patients annually and
the cities more prominent in medical tourism are Chennai, Delhi, Kerala, Hyderabad, and
Mumbai.
The patients of the countries
neighboring to India such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri lanka fly to India to
avail cost effective and high quality medical treatment. Not to forget the
patients flying from Africa and Middle East also make huge number of patients
preferring India for medical treatment. India is most popular country for heart
patients and other disease living in U.S., Canada, U.K., and France. India is
most favorite place for patients belonging form developed countries.
India offers wide array of
treatments such as orthopedic, cardiac, oncology treatments, organ transplants,
and vitriol-fertilization procedures. Cardiac surgery costs around 10000-20000
dollars in India as compared to around 175000 dollars in U.S. cost
effectiveness and high quality medical services are unique selling proposition
of India in medical tourism.
Medical Tourism in Thailand
In Medical tourism, Thailand is
the place known for cosmetic surgeries including the gender-change procedures.
According to medical tourism sources, more than 1.3 million patients traveled
to Thailand in 2013 for medical treatments.Temple of Dawn, Bangkok – Image Courtesy
– Disfrutabangkok
Bangkok is known for state of
the art hospitals for medical tourists. Bumrungrad hospital and Bangkok
hospital have been witnessing foreign patients for past 20 years. They have
highly professional physicians and surgeon specializing in every field of medical
treatment. Both hospitals see around 2000 foreign patients ever day.
Medical treatment in Thailand
costs 60-70% of the cost in U.S. or Canada. More than 40,000 patients from U.S.
travel to Thailand every year, according to data of medical tourism research guide.
Medical Tourism in Brazil
Brazil is another destination
for quality and cost effective cosmetic surgeries. More than 30% population of
Brazil has undergone some kind of cosmetic surgeries so that ensures the high
tech medical treatment with comparatively very less fees.
Rio-de-Janerio is known as the
“king of plastic surgery” because of widespread medical centers offering
plastic surgeries and after –surgery procedures for patients to ensure them
comfort with their new look post-surgery. The Rhinoplasty costs about 12000
dollars in Brazil and that’s way to cheaper to that in U.S.
Last year, more than 200,000
patients flew to Brazil for medical treatments mainly cosmetic surgeries and
Rhinoplasty. The figure is expected to grow in coming few years. An American
receives medical treatment in Brazil at cost around 40% less to that in U.S.
which makes Brazil one of the feasible medical destinations for American
citizens.
Medical Tourism in Singapore
Expanding on Singapore’s
worldwide recognition for premium health care facilities, the government has
been promoting it worldwide for high quality medical treatments such as in
cardiology, oncology and organ transplants.
Somewhere around 400,000 and
610,000 patients flew out to Singapore for treatment in 2013, according to
medical tourism guide, with most of them coming from nearby countries such as
Indonesia and Myanmar.
Gleneagles Hospital in
Singapore enjoys approval of medical tourism association
as one of the world’s top medical hospitals chosen by patients for medical
tourism a year ago. It specializes in cardiology, gastroenterology, liver
transplants and orthopedics. Knee surgery will cost an average of 12000-14000
Singapore dollars making it affordable for patients from western developed countries.
Medical Tourism in Malaysia
An alternate medical tourism
destination for Indonesians is Malaysia. Malaysia attracts foreign patients
from Middle East, America and Africa. But, most of patients coming to Malaysia
for medical procedure belong from neighboring countries.
Medical tourism in Malaysia is
regarded as the most feasible and preferred option for medical treatment
because of factors such no language barriers as Malaysians are fluent in
English, cost effectiveness in every medical treatment and beautiful place to
explore after the medical treatment.
Around 670,000 individuals head
out to Malaysia every year, regularly for “official” medicinal services
screenings in the urban communities of Kuala Lumpur or Penang.
Medical Tourism in Turkey
Turkey uses its strategic
geographical position and the expertise in medical tourism to
attract patients from European countries and Middle East. Highly skilled
doctors from across the Europe are working n turkey because of enormous number
of patients travelling to turkey for medical tourism. Turkey is known for high
quality cardiac procedures, orthopedic surgeries and cancer treatments.
Moreover, laser surgery can
easily be availed at number of hospitals in Turkey. The Dunyagoz Hospitals
Group owns laser centers all over the Turkey. More than 40,000 medical tourists
fly to turkey every year for medical tourism. Laser treatments cost around 1000
dollars that includes the medical stay and the medical services in the
hospital.
Medical Tourism in Hungary
Hungary is the popular medical
tourism destination within neighboring countries Germany, Austria, and
Switzerland. There are more than 200 dental centers catering to dental needs of
foreign patients, according to medical tourism guide.
The dental treatment and
cosmetic surgery in Hungry costs almost half of what it costs in the U.S.
moreover, it’s an exotic place to visit and explore after the patients gets
over with medical treatment.
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