MEDICAL TOURISM

Medical Tourism



Abstract

In this study we try to explore the concept of “Medical Tourism” in a holistic context. The main focus of the research is on “Medical Tourism”. The research also analyzes many aspects of “Medical Tourism” and tries to gauge its effect on “health care”. Finally the research describes various factors which are responsible for “Medical Tourism” and tries to describe the overall effect of “Medical Tourism” on “health care”.

Medical Tourism

Introduction

Medical tourism has emerged as one of the fastest growing areas of academic research interest in both tourism and health studies. Medical tourism was defined by the International Union of Tourist Organizations (IUTO), the forerunner to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, as “the provision of health facilities utilizing the natural resources of the country, in particular mineral water and climate”. Dedmon (2009) in a review of the health tourism literature, defined health tourism as “(1) staying away from home, (2) health [as the] most important motive, and (3) done in a leisure setting.” defined health tourism in terms of the narrower concept of health-care tourism as:

“An attempt on the part of a tourist facility (e.g. hotel) or the destination (e.g. Baden, Switzerland) to attract tourists deliberately promoting its health care services and facilities, in addition to its regular tourist amenities”

Background of Medical Tourism

As we want to analyze the historic value of the phenomenon of medical tourism or provision of transnational health-related services, we may begin by looking at what has been produced in academic circles. In other words, how is the scientific community changing its thoughts and presuppositions on the topic? After this short but necessary exploration, a more substantive analysis is possible. The relationship between health and tourism has been addressed before, but more in reference to well-being and tourism. However, travel for health reasons is nothing new and has long been recorded as a driver of visitors to thermal springs and coastal locations, yet there has clearly been a qualitative and quantitative change in how health and medical tourism is reported and understood. Even disregarding issues of definition, discussed below, it is apparent that there has been a massive shift of awareness in medical and health studies, and to a lesser extent, the tourism literature, on the significance of voluntary international mobility for health-related reasons.

If one examines, the database Web of Science with the keywords “medical” and “tourism” together (281 hits), one sees evolution in the scarce scientific reporting on medical tourism. Early publications examine the relation between tourism, travel and health care. Examples are found in World Health Statistics Quarterly (Erixon, 2008)and Health Policy (Connell, 2006). Around 2000, as medical tourism begins to increase, critical ethical voices are heard in the authoritative medical camp by means of the leading British Medical Journal and Wilderness Medicine (Canales, 2006). The year 2002 shows an ethical voice towards reproductive tourism (Bishop, 2000). From 2003, the debate and the volume around medical tourism intensify in context. First we read of perspective in India, which is a large stakeholder and ...