Medical Tourism in Developing Countries

CHAPTER 5Promoting Medical Tourism:The AdvantagesWhy does Malaysia attract medical tourists while Mauritania doesnot? Given that all developing countries face the same internationalenvironment in which there is a growing demand forhealth care, as well as a high income elasticity for medical services andincreased outsourcing of all services, why do some countries succeed indeveloping a medical tourism industry while others do not? In chapter 1 itwas stated that the ten countries under study possess advantages over otherdeveloping countries that have enabled medical tourism to take off.These advantages include low costs of production (and therefore theability to provide medical services at low prices), domestic human capital,domestic research and development, a developed physical infrastructure,developed political and legal institutions, and a liberalized market economy.In addition, the confluence of high-tech medicine with traditional healing,as well as an abundance of tourist attractions, add to the appeal of thesecountries. No single advantage is necessary or sufficient for medical tourismto take off, but some combination of them is. Indeed, it is not enough tohave a cheap labor force—it also has to be educated; it is not enough tohave hospitals—they also have to be hooked up to electricity and water.Some advantages are substitutes, and sometimes, one advantage can offsetthe lack of another. However, there has to be a critical mass of advantages,they cannot be lacking altogether as in many parts of Africa. When theright combination is in place (and there is not just one right one), thenmedical tourism is a feasible development strategy. South Africa, CostaRica, India, and other countries that actively promote medical tourism doso in part because they can—they possess some of the above advantages thatgive them options countries such as Mauritania, Bolivia, and Nepal simplydo not possess.