Medical Tourism in Developing Countries

Would You Like a Safari With Your Lasik Surgery? ● 71where all medical tourism is in the public sector, and India on the other,where the private sector is spearheading the industry.How did government involvement in medical tourism come about indeveloping countries? Until recently, tourism in general was not viewed asa serious industry, not as clearly associated with modernization and growthas a large capital goods factory. Similarly, as long as medical tourism waslimited to informal services of traditional healers such as Tony Agpaoa,authorities did not pay attention. All that changed when profits from alltypes of tourism began to skyrocket. Perceptive governments responded tothis unexpected interest in their human, physical, and natural resources bysingling out the tourism sector for investment and subsidy. In view of theforeign interest in LDC medical care, governments are doing the same inthat sector.As a result, today every country that can, is marketing its health care forpaying foreigners. Marconini notes, “It has become increasingly acceptedthat national care systems should be regarded as export-oriented industries.”18 Gupta, Goldar, and Mitra remark that the inflow of foreign patientsfrom developing and more developed countries is both possible and desirable,and thus should be pursued aggressively. 19 Such aggressive pursuit isreflected in tourist and health-care policies across the globe. This is true inthe more developed countries (witness most recently the strategic plan forrecreating the Hawaiian tourist industry by striving to become the wellnesscenter of the Pacific 20 ). It is also true in oil-rich Middle Eastern countries(such as the Arab Emirates that have created a trade free zone for DubaiHealthcare City where the authorities promise there will be, “no red tape,hassle-free visas and a streamlined labour process, simplified licensing andapplications.” 21 In addition, there will be no taxes on sales, income, orcapital gains, only corporate tax for financial institutions. There will beno restrictions on capital, no trade barriers or quotas, no need for a localpartner, just one-stop-shopping for government services (such as 24-hourvisa extensions and other permits).The public sector promotes medical tourism in all destination countriesunder study. The Chilean authorities hope to “add surgical operations andcutting edge medical treatments to its traditional exports of copper, wineand salmon.” 22 Cuba has a long history of promoting medical tourism andas Benavides notes, “One of the main objectives of the Cuban governmenthas been to convert the country into a world medical power.” 23 Indeed, thetreatment of foreign patients is the cornerstone of the government’s strategy.Across the globe in the Philippines, in 2005, the government announcedwith great fanfare that the Departments of Tourism and Health are teamingup to provide medical tourism. In India, the national health policy in 2002