Medical Tourism
Medical Tourism
The phrase “Medical Tourism” is about the process in which people those who seek medical treatments would usually look after better options among other cities, states or even foreign countries. There is various reason for this matter, including:
– Better health services
– Medicine regulation or restrictions
– Cheaper yet good quality services in developing countries
– Shorter waiting periods
Some popular services demanded in medical tourism are:
– Cosmetic surgeries
– Infertility treatments
– Cardiovascular surgeries
– Breast augmentation
– Rhinoplasty
– Blepharoplasty
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Medical Tourism history
If you are interested in the history of Medical Tourism you should know it dates back to thousands of years ago when Greek pilgrims traveled from the eastern Mediterranean to a small area in the Saronic Gulf called Epidauria.[4] This territory was the sanctuary of the healing god Asklepios. “Quoting from wikipedia“
It is interesting to know that in the 18th century Europeans would travel to some special places with spas and sanitaria to treat their various illnesses from gout to liver disorders and bronchitis.
Common Reasons and Statistics
To talk about the main reasons why people choose to travel for medical purposes, we should mention expensive cost of medical treatments and prolonged waiting times. In advanced and developed countries, you may have to wait for some time between 2 months to 6 months to get a specific treatment even diagnostic treatment.
Aside from the costs, some insurance limitations make patients look for alternative countries to seek their treatments, knowing that hospitals in private sectors may serve them easier. In some first world countries, orthopedic surgeries are not covered by their insurance, or are limited specific surgeons and facilities.
According to statistics published in 2007, about 750,000 Americans went abroad to seek medical treatments which is estimated to double in 2008.
Most popular countries for medical tourism are: Iran, India, Canada, Costa Rica, Israel, Jordan, South Korea and etc. Some countries visited for their popular cosmetic surgery services are Cuba, Ecuador, Taiwan, Albania, Brazil and Columbia.
Some other popular services are infertility treatments including various IVF methos (in-vitro fertilization) , surrogacy or embryo freezing.
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