Medical Tourism in Developing Countries

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Promoting Medical Tourism ● 113and communication, plus water supplies, financial institutions, electricityand public services, such as health and education. 75 Countries that have awell-developed infrastructure are better positioned to provide medical tourismand to facilitate the provision of related services. Authorities in Thailandand Jordan, as well as in other destination countries under study, have beencognizant of this fact and are aware that the enormous potential of medicaltourism can be obliterated by something as basic as water and power.To the extent that a developed infrastructure facilitates and integrates alleconomic activities, medical tourism depends on the quality and quantityof infrastructure insofar as it determines the pace and diversity of thedevelopment of the service industry. Improvements in infrastructure contributeto the tourist industry and, at the same time, they serve the localpopulation and increase its standards of living. When infrastructure is deficientand inadequate, then transportation systems prevent flows of goodsthat serve the medical and tourist industries; financial institutions cannotprovide capital for investment in clinics, hospitals, accommodations, restaurants,car rental agencies, and shops; communications cannot foster the linkto home that patients and tourists often demand; and so forth. Such conditionshamper the development of the medical tourist industry (as well asthe general tourist industry), and ultimately derail aspirations for nationaleconomic growth. Indeed, according to a World Bank study of tourism inAfrica, infrastructure investments have not kept up with expanding tourism,76 and the overuse and congestion that has been created preventedtourism from reaching its potential. Similarly, according to a MorganStanley study in 2005, the single biggest constraint on the Indian economyis the lack of infrastructure. 77 A government policy that promotes medicaltourism will use its scarce resources to ensure that transport, power, andwater are explicitly favored in the regions that attract patients and touristsby exerting its discretion over investment in the sectors discussed below.Such public sector investment will also set the stage for foreign direct investmentin medical tourism that is unlikely to take place where the infrastructureis not developed (Chanda called this “The huge initial publicinvestments that may be required to attract foreign direction investmentinto the health sector” 78 ).Infrastructure development is presented in table 5.4 in two ways. Overallinfrastructure is measured from 1 to 7 with respect to quality, extent, andefficiency (where 7 is the highest). Also, countries are ranked by thedevelopment of their infrastructure. The World Economic Forum hasranked only the top 59 countries, so the mere fact that the countries understudy are included puts them in the global top-third with respect to infrastructure.Malaysia, South Africa, and Jordan rank the highest, respectively
Table 5.4 Indicators of physical infrastructureOverallAccess to water(% of population,2002)Access to sanitation(% of population,2002)Cellular subscribersper 1,000(2003)Internet usersper 1,000(2003)Electricity consumptionper capita, 2002(kilowatt hours)Roads(ranking)Air transport(ranking)Argentina 3.4(40)n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 2,383 3.9(35)4.4(43)Chile 3.3(43)95 92 511 272 2,918 3.6(39)5.6(24)Costa Rica 2.4(53)97 92 181 288 1,765 2.3(52)4.7(39)Cuba n.a. 91 98 3 9 1,395 n.a. n.a.India 2.3(54)86 30 25 17 569 2.2(56)4.6(40)Jordan 4.8(23)91 93 242 81 1,585 5.2(20)5.3(31)Malaysia 5.3(18)95 n.a. 442 344 3,234 5.2(19)5.5(26)Philippines 2.3(55)85 73 270 n.a. 610 2.2(55)3.9(49)South Africa 5.0(21)87 67 364 n.a. 4,715 4.3(31)5.919)Thailand 3.8(32)85 99 394 111 1,860 4.3(30)5.3(32)114 ● Medical Tourism in Developing CountriesNote : Overall refers to the overall quality of infrastructure and is measured from 1–7 with respect to quality, extent, and efficiency (7 is highest). The ranking of 59 countriesin the world is given in parentheses. Access to water refers to the percent of the population with sustainable access to an improved water source; access to sanitation refers to thepercent of the population with sustainable access to improved sanitation; cellular refers to cellular subscribers per 1,000 people; internet refers to internet users per 1,000 people;electricity refers to electricity consumption per capita (kilowatt hours); roads refers to how extensive and well maintained they are (ranked 1 to 7), and air transport refers tohow extensive and efficient it is (ranked 1 to 7). For the last two, the ranking among 59 countries studied is given in parentheses.Source : United Nations Development Program Human Development Report 2005 (New York: United Nations, 2005), tables 7, 13, and 22; World Economic Forum, The GlobalCompetitiveness Report 2000 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), tables 5.01, 5.02, and 5.04.
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List of AcronymsAIDS Acquired Immun
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2 ● Medical Tourism in Developing
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10 ● Medical Tourism in Developin
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Table 1.1 Economic indicators and t
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Plastic Surgery is Not Peanuts ●
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188 ● NotesTreatment Abroad Could
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190 ● Notes60. Emerging markets i
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192 ● Notes21. Woodward et al.,
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194 ● Notes57. Economist, July 31
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196 ● Notes25. New York Times, De
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198 ● Notes73. Rupa Chanda, “Tr
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200 ● Notes16. Peter Schofield,
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202 ● Notes56. Thomas Friedman, T
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204 ● Notes99. Chanda, “Trade i
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206 ● Notes21. Marvin Cetron, Fre
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208 ● Notes71. Chanda, “Trade i
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210 ● Notes116. Cited in Rashmi B
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212 ● Notes2. Simonetta Zarrilli,
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214 ● Notes30. Joint Commission I
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216 ● Notes65. Mattoo and Rathind
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218 ● Notes102. It is a problem i
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220 ● Notes29. Larry Solomon, “
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224 ● Selected BibliographyBower,
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226 ● Selected BibliographyJohans
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228 ● Selected BibliographyRoffe,
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232 ● Indexbrain drain/gain 105-9
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234 ● Indexdestination countriesa
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236 ● Indexhealth careon airplane
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238 ● IndexJJohanson, Misty 44, 9
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240 ● Indexmedical tourism (conti
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242 ● Indexpublic health (continu
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244 ● Indextourism sectormarket s
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Medical Tourism in Developing Countries

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