Medical Tourism is gaining popularity in developing nations. This form of tourism has become one of the most booming sectors. Medical tourism involves people from developed countries moving to another country for medical needs. This medical need comes with a package along with a complete tour of the country.
This medication covers those sectors of people whose medical necessities are not under any insurance company and cannot meet their spiraling rate in their home nation.
Popular medical tourism destinations are India, Thailand, Belgium, Cuba, Hungary, France, Germany, Russia, etc. The Government of many of these countries promotes health tourism.
In India, the Apollo Group of Hospitals and Escorts has treated many foreign patients, though many may have been of Indian origin. The top Mumbai hospital in India is responsible for 10 to 12% of foreigners as their patients yearly.
The selling point of medical tourism is cost-effective health care, with quality combined with tourist attraction and price advantage. Open-heart surgery in India could cost about one-tenth of the cost in the UK or US.
The health care and the latest medical facilities of Thailand, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Fareast countries’ emerging economies are symbolic of growing medical tourism. Asia’s medical tourism industry likely touch the figure of 4 billion US dollars shortly. The research made by the Government shows that a medical tourist spends about 362 US dollars per day compared to the average traveler spends around 144 US dollars per day.
The medical business in India is growing at a rate of 30 percent per year and expects to generate around 2.2 billion US dollars shortly. India is also focusing on traditional forms of treatment like yoga and naturopathy.
Singapore is an elegant and clean city, and not just that, Singapore is focusing on attracting one million foreign medical tourists per year and turning the figure to 1.6 billion US dollars.
Whereas Malaysia targets 590 million US dollars in another five years. This difference itself makes medical tourists a highly attractive package. In Thailand alone, more than one million tourists receive medical aid. The Bumrungrad International Hospital in Thailand has more than 700 well-trained doctors and other medical staff. It treated around 355,000 foreign patients, generating almost fifty percent of the hospital’s annual revenue.
Africa and North America Cosmetic surgery and dentistry have been the key reasons people move to South Africa. There are other excellent facilities attached to the hospitals of South Africa that have attracted people to this nation.
On the other hand, in North America though not a preferred medical tourist spot, people from all over the world come here for medical treatment. The high-cost factor has never hindered visiting the USA for medical reasons. It has only been a decade or so since then people in North America have searched for low-budget but high-quality medical facilities.
The Middle East/Central and South America Competitions amongst the nation to lure medical tourists have made many Middle Eastern countries build some of the world’s finest medical facilities.
Among the other countries, Mexico is No.1 place for medical tourists. Costa Rica is famous for plastic surgeries and dentistry. Cuba, too, stands quite close to the demands of medical tourism. Brazil, in South America, too, leads in cosmetic surgery. Therefore, it has attracted many people from around the globe.
The European nations are pretty famous for their excellent medical services. This attracts people here, especially in Hungary, where people throng dentistry. Europe has been traditionally associated with spas for ages. These spas have mineral water, which has healing qualities and has cured many diseases.
In Germany, the travel agents see the complete detail for the ease of the medical tourists, for example, by offering package deals, arranging visas, transportation, and translators. The agencies fix up appointments with the physicians and help with the entire hospital procedures. Mexico’s No. 1 medical destination is Mexico, without a doubt. Patients, especially those from the United States, move here for treatment. The main reason for this is the distance that is hardly any. The medical services offered here are cosmetic and dental surgery, weight loss, cardiac, orthopedic, and others.