Colombia Jumps in to Medical Tourism Industry
February 26th, 2010The Colombian government is promoting the South American country as a medical tourism destination, where visitors can receive high quality-low cost treatments such as cosmetic surgery and dentistry.
Tourism minister Luis Guillermo Plata says that the government expects to see a rise in medical tourism visitors because the quality of Colombian medicine is high but far cheaper than treatments in Europe and the U.S.The government estimates that twenty foreigners travel to Colombia every month for cosmetic surgery procedures such as liposuction, rhinoplasty and breast augmentation. The majority of patients come from the USA, Spain, Panama and Mexico, according to the government. Approximately 2.2 per cent of visitors to Colombia in 2008 came to receive medical treatment, around 27000 people. The government estimates that the majority of these patients were Colombians residing in other countries.
One problem for Colombia is that several hospitals are still only in the middle of …
Medical Tourism: Where Latin America has an Edge over Asia
June 16th, 2009
Cultural familarity and proximity are key advantages Latin America has over Asia
As many as 23 million US citizens will seek medical treatment overseas by the year 2017 (spending close to $80 billion), and as much as 50% of those treatments will take place in Latin America.
Despite President Obama’s remarks today about the need to shore up the US healthcare system, there is little doubt that an increasing number of citizens will take advantage of what is seen as inexpensive and reliable health care services south of the border.
With such a huge upside, it’s no wonder that medical tourism development leaders in Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, Guatemala, Colombia, Chile, and El Salvador are looking to get a stake in this growing market.
So what does make …
