Medical Tourism in Developing Countries

Promoting Medical Tourism ● 133both. In some cases, one is preferred over another. Even in the West, traditionalChinese medicine has come to be accepted and doctors in Franceand the United States are licensed to use its techniques. 135 Given the largeChinese diaspora across Asia, demand for and knowledge of acupunctureand traditional herbs is particularly strong.There are a few problems associated with the widespread use of traditionalmedicine that place limitations on its expansion. First, traditionalmedicine is in the public domain so there are no property rights on techniquesor methods used. At the most, the private sector can provide middlemanservices or train their own personnel. Competing with the traditionalsector, Rockland Hospital in India has dedicated an entire wing for medicaltourism where it hopes to merge modern treatments with holistic healthcare. 136 Kerala has good facilities in traditional forms of medicine. Now ithas new spas and resorts, one of which offers guests the complete range ofpathological tests, dental treatment, electrocardiograms, stress tests, X-rays,and sonography tests.Second, diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine requires conversation.Indeed, “interrogation” is one of the four methods of diagnosis 137 so thedoctor and the patient must be able to understand each other, not justlinguistically, but also culturally. If there is a need for an interpreter, thenthat adds to the cost of the service as well as the chances of misunderstandings.Also, since the doctor will not prescribe anything unless he or she candiscuss with the patient, given the belief that each patient is different andwill have special needs, then traditional Chinese medicine is not suited tocross-border trade. 138Third, some Chinese traditional medical therapies focus on “normalizationof energy and blood” rather than medical treatment as such. 139 Fornormal metabolism and balance, patients take tonics and/or Qigong therapylong after their initial treatment. To the extent that traditional medicineentails the use of supplements and traditional healing herbs and techniquesthat cannot be reproduced or transported by airplane, treatment cannot becontinued when patients leave.Considering the above limitations, one might ask how much demandactually exists for traditional and alternative medicine? We have no actual datasince it is a cash business and most providers are in the informal sector. Whatevidence exists pertaining to the market for traditional medicine is oftenincomplete and contradictory (for example, Singkaew and Chaichana claimthat in Thailand, there has been a recent surge in demand for Thai massageand traditional medicine services, 140 but then, they also claim that the role oftraditional medicine is declining in Thailand 141 ). Until more reliable statisticsare available and demand estimates more accurate, destination countries are