THE GLOBAL HEALTH ISSUES AND MEDICAL TRAVEL: A REVIEW

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to conduct a non-systematic literature review by way of reviewing articles that were found in any of six databases under the terms “medical tourism” or “medical travel” since the year 2000 in order to document the major primary reason for medical tourism and how some specific country’s health providers focus their health services offerings to meet these needs. . This study also identified major dangers in medical tourism and determined why cost, accessibility and quality are the main motivating factors for medical travel. Although lack of data is a major concern and the data available are mainly limited to literature from the perspective of a single country; and, data on medical travel outcomes are not sufficient or not generated using rigorous enough methods for statistical analysis. Therefore, this report documents primarily a range of treatments abroad that most commonly include dental care, cosmetic surgery, fertility treatment, elective surgery and other medical services.