Have you ever heard of this? Medical Tourism? Well it
is an actual real term that defines a specific practice. Of which I will
explain now.
Medical Tourism: This form of tourism is where
patients go from country to country to get procedures done to either improve
their health, or in some cases enhance themselves. Basically, you have a
strain of cancer where the cure is not legal for sale or use in the United
States, so you go to France where the cure is legal to get treatment.
This is how it works. Cases of medical tourism are for treatments that
are not allowed in one country, but allowed in others. In other cases it
is cheaper in the other country to get treatment for diseases and health
conditions. Then there are some like people who need an organ transplant,
but are so far away in line for the next kidney, heart or lung, that they will
probably die in their home country. Therefore they head to a country
where they can get a new organ almost immediately. These are the
advantages of medical tourism.
Reactions: While getting cheaper healthcare in
another country is supported, there has been very negative reactions to the
organ transplant form of this tourism and to a lesser extent the possible
experimental treatments for diseases that have no cures in the home country of
the patient. With respect to the organs, they are seen as sacred and thus
not a commodity by a large majority of the world community. As such
countries are cracking down (like China) by making it almost impossible for foreigners
to get transplants from the people in the country the medical tourist is
visiting.
As to the experimental drugs.
While cures/procedures may be approved in one country, they are not
guaranteed to work. In addition, many of these people may have to stay in
the country they are visiting for treatment due to bans on their medicine, or
the procedures ban in their home country until it is finally approved (which
may be years later). Obviously this makes it hard on people with rarer
diseases, but governments are not budging and are reluctant to change policies
in the near term out of fear of possible future complications and side effects.
On another note, regular medical tourism
is sometimes frowned upon based upon the fact that some view the foreigners
entering their countries as intruders. That they take away the medical
care that otherwise would be used to treat a fellow citizen. However,
these notions fade in and out with economic difficulties for it is more out of
resentment over actual fact that these feelings appear.
Conclusion: I think medical tourism is a
fantastic thing. It gives people more access to treatment opportunities
than if they stayed in their home country (though this is usually reserved for
the rich because they have the money to spend to hop from country to country).
I find the organ donor portion to be good for people who may be
struggling to get a match in their home country, but sadly governments are
ethnocentric at times which means some of these organs that could have went to
save others will go to waste. On the experimental drug front, or the as
yet to be approved drugs, I believe that people do own their bodies and thus
should be free to experiment to try and save themselves (especially if their
condition is terminal). This is my feelings on the matter and I hope you
enjoyed the read.
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