The Philippines is experiencing a new wave of travelers seeking medical treatment abroad, according to former health secretary Alfredo Bengzon.
The Indian government has announced that it plans to invest $6.5 billion to encourage medical tourism in India. Tourism minister Ambika Soni said that “affordable hospitals and budget hotels for patients’ relatives” would be built with the money, the Economic Times reports.
The medical tourism industry has really taken off in Vietnam thanks to the opening of additional specialized clinics and the latest technologies, it has been reported.
A new complex designed to cater specifically for tourists seeking treatment abroad is being considered by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in Korea. The city is currently working on a feasibility study to determine how viable such a complex would be.
During 2006, more than 50,000 Brits traveled abroad for low cost medical treatments, with cosmetic surgery and dentistry at the top of most people’s holiday itinerary, according to an independent survey commissioned by medical tourism company Treatment Abroad.
By traveling abroad for complex medical procedures, Americans can save between five and 20 times the cost of having their operations on home soil.