Medical Tourism in Developing Countries

82 ● Medical Tourism in Developing Countriesextend into the sharing of facilities, professionals, research, as well as providingcomplementary treatments.Chile has been at the forefront in the cooperation between the publicand private sectors. Its Santiago Salud is the first public-private health-carenetwork in Latin America, supported by both the Ministry of Healthas well as the Governor of Santiago. From the public sector, three hospitalshave joined the network, each with a different specialization (Hospital delTrabajador, Hospital Calvo Mackenna, and Hospital del Torax). 68 Thepublic sector is represented by two university hospitals (University of Chileand Catholic University), both complementing each other’s specializations.Santiago Salud aims to provide state-of-the-art medical technology withhighly skilled personnel and thus place Chile firmly on the medical tourismmap. According to the Chilean Minister of Health, Pedro Garcia, SantiagoSalud is expected to earn $15 million during the first five years of the programand $35 million within the first decade. 69India has also been successful with respect to cooperation. TheMinistries of Tourism and Health have pledged to cooperate with eachother first, and then together, to seek out the private sector. 70 The CII-McKinsey report suggested that a strong cooperation between the governmentand the private sector has in fact been achieved, given that thegovernment’s first initiative for growth and improvement in the health-caresector was to “spur private investment in healthcare.” 71 The Indian authoritiesare presently seeking to create and formalize public-private partnershipsand are exploring the following models: contract out services tothe private sector (as is done in parts of India, such as Karnataka), haveprivate management of public facilities (as in South Africa), stimulate privateinvestment to meet public demand (as in the UK), and convert facilitiesfrom public to private (as in Sweden) while focusing the public sectoron primary care provision in the rural regions (as in Thailand). 72 Any oneof these possibilities would give the private sector a foot in the door anda role in something it didn’t have before—provision of public health. Thiscooperation has also necessitated the creation of a go-between betweengovernment and private sector. 73 The Confederation of Indian Industries(CII) recognizes that this is huge area of potential for India and is activelyworking on setting guidelines. It is the coordinating agency betweengovernment and hospitals; it has resources to influence policy and itsefforts are supported by the government. Another relevant group is thePacific Bridge Medical, a consulting firm that has assisted companies inthe health sector throughout Asia with regulation and business developmentsince 1988.