Barbados Wants in on Medical Tourism Dollars

Barbados will be seeking to capitalize on the billion dollar industry of medical tourism. Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy says the country must get in on this industry, noting that by 2010, medical travel would be a $40 billion industry with as many as 780 million patients seeking care abroad.

“We want to ensure that we can benefit from this tremendous burgeoning industry and the only way we can do that is by making sure we have the base of professionals... that is to be found in the region,” he said.

He said that in seeking to obtain the benefits of health and wellness and medical tourism, Barbados would be investing in the necessary infrastructure, such as world class facilities and airlift, along with a range of human resource capacity, including nurses, paramedics and health administrators.

Acknowledging that health care was a major area of focus for policy-makers worldwide, he said: “We have earned a very high reputation for having a fairly exceptional high level of services, particularly in cardiology.”

And he lauded the island and its counterparts, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas and Jamaica for offering open heart surgery, for over a decade.

The Tourism Minister added that these small islands were plagued by a lack of resources, but “have health care professionals, who can be trail blazers in the region”.