Medical tourism – an increasing world of opportunity for Commonwealth nations

Medical tourism is an industry experiencing rapid growth and development worldwide. According to Deloitte, the major international accounting and consulting firm, throughout 2007 over one million American, British and Canadian patients undertook surgery abroad and this figure is predicted to rise beyond 15 million by 2017. Deloitte also reported that with over 47 million people in the US (2006) being uninsured and not able to receive state-funded domestic medical surgery and treatment, an estimated six million of these will travel for surgery abroad by 2010.

Commonwealth nations are already heavily involved within this advancing industry major existing medical tourism destinations include South Africa, India, Singapore, Malaysia (where according to Deloitte the number of foreign patients tripled between 2001 to 2006, reaching nearly 300,000), Malta and New Zealand to name but a few, while numerous Commonwealth nations within the Caribbean, Africa and Asia have started to consider the potential for promoting international surgery abroad within their borders.

As an example, according to McKinsey, 99% of medical tourists from Australia generally travel to destinations such as Singapore and Malaysia (as well as other destinations with South East Asia) for more cost effective healthcare, while the number of British patients travelling to Malta for treatments such as orthopedic surgery and eye surgery have increased exponentially over the last five years.

In addition to the lack of medical insurance in the US, factors promoting the growth of global medical tourism include the high domestic cost of private healthcare in the US, UK and Western Europe, long waiting times in the key source destinations, substantial improvements in technology, healthcare standards and international accreditation in destination countries and various treatments being only available abroad (such as stem cell therapy).

Additionally, the increasing ease and affordability of international travel and the ability to link surgery abroad in-between vacation time at a tropical destination are also factors which are making the prospect of treatments abroad all the more appealing.

Members of the Commonwealth are in an advantageous position when it comes to aligning themselves as medical tourism destinations. Commonwealth nations have existing and well-established social, economic and cultural connections with countries that are currently leading source markets for medical tourism such as the UK, Canada and Australia.

Commonwealth nations also often have higher levels of spoken and written English; a crucial factor for the vast majority of medical tourists, and medical personnel are also generally trained to similar standards to other more developed Commonwealth nations. Many surgeons, doctors and hospital staff from emerging Commonwealth nations take part in training exchanges within major hospitals in the more developed member nations. Both of these factors combine to create an appealing set of circumstances for would-be medical tourists.

Lastly, perhaps the most important advantage for Commonwealth countries are the strong family ties between member nations. For individuals who already have family ties in a particular destination (which is not an uncommon occurrence between Commonwealth member states), travelling for surgery abroad is made all the more appealing and many individuals will undertake minor surgical procedures (such as dental surgery) in more affordable clinics, while on vacations to see family and relatives.