Travelling Well: Essays in Medical Tourism, Transdisciplinary Studies in Population Health Series - Volume 4, Issue 1, 2013
Edited by Ronald Labonté, Vivien Runnels, Corinne Packer and Raywat Deonandan.
The whole publication can be found at the following webpage: http://bit.ly/10FwyS1
“…………The opening years of the 21st century have been characterized by a variety of technological, social, political and economic factors that have seen the disintegration of the meaning and importance of international borders. From the power of the Internet to link disparate populations, to the consolidation of blocs of politically intertwined nations such as the European Union (EU), and the rise of affordable international travel, forces have been combining to bring about a globalized world economy that was only theorized in decades past.
An obvious facet of this new globalization is the permeability of borders to the movement of consumers seeking a variety of medical services, and providers willing to accommodate, if not also profit, from this demand.
The services sought span a surprisingly diverse array of medical products, interventions and technologies: the motivations of travellers seeking these services are equally as diverse.
Travellers in search of organs for emergency transplantation are often driven by a shortage of timely, local donors.
Travellers seeking non-emergency surgeries, like those travelling from Canada to Latin America for knee replacement surgery, are motivated by lowered costs and
shorter waiting lists.
Reproductive ‘tourists’ may seek maternal surrogates in India for a variety of complicated reasons, including cost reduction and the avoidance of legal restrictions at home.
Running throughout these diverse sets of services and motivators are a few ubiquitous threads. Among them is the is the strange marriage of medicine with global commerce and the challenges that this union poses to ethicists. There is also the powerful rhetoric of liberalization and global economic integration that provides the rationale and bolsters the discourse of the industry….”
The book’s contents are as follows:
• Chapter 1: Introduction
o Sets the stage for the book with modern medical tourism viewed as a commercial enterprise and a manifestation of the processes of globalization. Our use of the term ‘medical tourism’ refers to situations wherein an individual makes a decision to physically travel to a location in another country for the purpose of obtaining medical treatment for which he or she has paid (out-of-pocket or through individual insurance plans).
• Chapter 2: Overview: Medical Tourism Today - What, Who, Why and Where?
o This chapter reviews and updates the current evidence of medical tourism, with a focus on the cross-border pursuit of more conventional or customary forms of healthcare (dental, surgical, and diagnostic).
• Chapter 3: South-South and North-South Medical Tourism: The Case of South Africa
Provides an overview of the volume and various types of medical tourism to South Africa, while also highlighting the differences between North-South and South-South medical travel to South Africa.
The article also examines the emergence of inter-governmental agreements on medical treatment between South Africa and other African countries, and discusses the implications of the South African case study on our understanding of medical tourism.
• Chapter 4: Medical Value Travel in India: Prospects and Challenges
o Analyzes the medical tourism industry in India. The article discusses the facilitators and constraints to India's medical tourism industry, presents the benefits and concerns, and outlines positive steps for India domestically, as well as internationally, in order to facilitate its medical tourism exports.
• Chapter 5: Exploring Medical Tourism in Latin America - Two Case Examples
o Provides an overview of two country case examples (Mexico and Cuba), which represent two fundamentally different models of medical tourism. The article discusses the medical services offered and the effects the industry has on the overall healthcare system of each respective country.
• Chapter 6: Exceptional Aspects of the Experiences of Canadian Medical Tourists from Patient Narratives
o This chapter presents five vignettes that bring forth uncommon or exceptional aspects of particular Canadian medical tourists' experiences in order to raise questions and offer caveats to the many generalizations and conspicuous absences that are found in current popular and academic discussions of how a medical tour unfolds.
• Chapter 7: Out of Canada - A Personal Experience of Bariatric Surgery
o A personal story of a patient battling to sustain weight loss, and her experience at a USfacility conducting bariatric surgery.
• Chapter 8: Travelling for Healthcare from Canada
An Overview of Out-of-Country Care Funded by Provincial/Territorial Health Insurance Plans
An Overview of Out-of-Country Care Funded by Provincial/Territorial Health Insurance Plans
o This chapter examines Out of Country Care (OOCC) funded by Canadian provincial/territorial health insurance plans. It specifically looks at some challenges to the current system and suggests some potential research questions and general implications of cross-border and OOCC for a country with a publicly-funded healthcare system.
• Chapter 9: An Introduction to the Ethical Dimensions of Reproductive Medical Tourism
o Analyzes the ethical implications of reproductive medical tourism, including travel for IVF, ICSI, sex-selection, PGD and maternal surrogacy.
• Chapter 10: The Impact of Trade Treaties on Health Tourism
o This chapter examines the extent to which trade agreements can impact health tourism.
• Chapter 11: Let's Make a Deal - The Commerce of Medical Tourism.
This chapter summarizes the author’s first-hand experiences and the issues presented of a commercial international medical tourism conference.
• Chapter 12: Conclusion - Medical Tourism Today and Tomorrow.
Closes thebook with a brief summary and some reflections on future directions.
