PROMOTION
OF
MEDICAL TOURISM
The
key “selling points” of the medical tourism industry are its
“cost effectiveness” and its combination with the
attractions of tourism. The latter also uses the ploy of selling
the “exotica” of the countries involved as well as the
packaging of health care with traditional therapies and
treatment methods.
Price
advantage is, of course, a major selling point. The slogan, thus
is, “First World treatment’ at Third World prices”. The
cost differential across the board is huge: only a tenth and
sometimes even a sixteenth of the cost in the West. Open-heart
surgery could cost up to $70,000 in Britain and up to $150,000
in the US; in India’s best hospitals it could cost between
$3,000 and $10,000. Knee surgery (on both knees) costs 350,000
rupees ($7,700) in India; in Britain this costs £10,000
($16,950), more than twice as much. Dental, eye and cosmetic
surgeries in Western countries cost three to four times as much
as in India.
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