Specifically, they want more control over their health and where their money goes. Including how much insurance pays if they do cover costs and the quality of care found in healthcare systems outside of their countries.

What is “Medical Tourism”?

Patients have increasingly been travelling across the globe in search of better healthcare. There are two different types of tourism in this field:

• Medical tourism: Patients seek medical care or elective procedures, such as cosmetic surgery.
• Wellness tourism: Travellers actively seek holistic treatments and routines that change their lifestyle, such as yoga retreats.

Medical tourism is the process of travelling outside of your country to receive medical care. This can involve any type of medical procedure or treatment.

Patients seek better quality care, lower costs, and a more personalised experience if the options are available. For those who needed to make sure their health was stable enough to live their lives regularly, medical tourism didn’t always represent a trend.

Top 3 Medical Tourism Destinations in Africa and Globally

The market value for medical tourism dropped to an estimated USD 31,532.43 million in 2021, alongside a global price surge that came with the pandemic. In 2020 and 2021, healthcare benefit expenses fluctuated between a 4.8% decline and an 8.1% increase, according to Willis Towers Watson (WTW). Whereas, the Middle East and Africa had an estimated cost increase of 7.6% in 2022.

If a person needs a complex procedure or basic treatments, they will most likely go to destinations that have optimal best practices in their healthcare systems. This is especially true for many places that best managed the global pandemic and continue to have health and safety standards in place. The following countries are ranked in accordance with the Medical Tourism Index study, which rates nations based on destination attractiveness, safety, and healthcare quality.

Africa’s top three private medical travel destinations are:

• South Africa: ranked 65.82%
• Egypt: ranked 64.81%
• Morocco: ranked 63.80%

The top 3 international destinations for medical travel are:

• Singapore: ranked 76.47%
• Canada: ranked 76.43%
• Japan: ranked 74.23%

Why go to Africa for Medical Care?

Courtesy of Tourism News Africa – click here to read full article.