Saturday 25 May 2013

Who is seeking cancer treatment abroad?


Advancements in technology have enhanced information to foreign health services. Country borders have grown to be increasingly permeable. Globalised transport systems have lowered transport costs. Consequently, medical travel for cancer treatment continues to be enhanced. But who are these patients seeking treatment abroad? What is their profile?

Generally, two separate groups of people seek cancer treatment abroad plus they do so for differing reasons. Affluent patients might be looking for quality of healthcare, whereas the less wealthy might be looking for lower costs of treatment abroad.

Affluent patients

Affluent people are patients that are generally discontented using the standard of health care provided in your own home, the unavailability of treatments or even the lack of technology in health centres and hospitals. For instance, in China, a gastroscopy, a test of the stomach and alimentary canal, is conducted through the mouth.. In other countries, this type of procedure is usually performed with the nose which significantly reduces pain for that patient. As such, the attraction of nations that have newer and more well equipped hospitals with trained medical professionals and specialists can draw these affluent patients.

The primary pie of affluent patients comes from China. With the rising affluence and patient mobility from the country’s emerging middle class, we witness a substantial increase in the numbers of Chinese traveling overseas as medical tourists recently. Around 60,000 The chinese travel abroad annually for healthcare services, based on Yang Jian, CEO of the Shanghai Medical Tourism Products and Promotion Platform. 17 % of Asia’s millionaires are located in China.

A maturing population in China seems to have improved the demand for medical and healthcare services. Based on the Ministry of Health, mainlanders aged 60 or older taken into account 13.3 percent of the population this year. The aged require more healthcare than the others and thus many affluent ageing Chinese residents that like to venture abroad for treatment.

The less wealthy

 In a few countries such as the US, people have to fork out an increasing amount of cash on health care costs. Hence, these people seek cheaper alternatives for healthcare abroad. The standard and technology of treatment within their home country may be comparable to that of those overseas. However, the primary pull factor is the more affordable treatments offered for the same quality, for example in the emerging countries Mexico and Thailand. Nearly all this group of people are those Fifty years old and above, more commonly referred to as, the baby boomers. This is because seniors are at the point in life where cancer threats will probably arise and treatment is sought after. “I would tend to say that 80 % or more of the people using medical tourism are seniors,” said Rajesh Rao, CEO of IndUSHealth, a medical travel program provider for patients and employer health care insurance options. Moreover, since last year, there's been growing dialogue on how seniors should manage aging and end-of-life issues because the generation ages. In addition, 48.Six million Americans (16% of the US population) remain uninsured. For that less affluent and the uninsured boomers, going abroad for cancer treatment methods are a striking alternative.

It costs around US$25,000 for chemotherapy in america, or US$12,000 in India which means a savings rate of 50%. India has gained repute around the world for its highly qualified and experienced medical teams in oncology. The Apollo Hospital and Fortis Hospital in India are the renowned oncology centres.

Indeed, both of these groups of patients are placing medical tourism for cancer is rising. Though they choose this method for varying reasons, it's no doubt that they understand that the caliber of cancer treatment can rival that or perhaps is better than those offered within their home country.

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