Health tourism as a global growth market

Recent press reports have brought the subject of medical tourism into the public eye. In 2007 alone, around 750,000 people traveled abroad for in-patient and outpatient treatment. This trend has already been underway
for a number of years in other European countries: patients from England have their hip surgery done in India,
Austrians go to health resorts in Poland, and the Swiss obtain dental treatment in Hunary or undergo LASIK surgery in Turkey.

In the meantime, many people speak of a "globalisation of medicine" - like the globalisation of production and financial markets, globalisation of the health market is now well-established. North Americans obtain treatment in South America, the English do so in India, and Austrians likewise in Eastern Europe. Medical tourism has indeed become a global growth market.

But what are the reasons why thousands of patients go abroad? Read the reasons for medical tourism.