Jaunted - Tag: Medical Travel

Medical Tourism Booms In Ghana, Of All Places

amandak — 2009-11-03T08:59:21-05:00

The west African country of Ghana hasn't been too high up on our list of wanna-visits, although its position improved a lot when we heard Ghana is the second highest producer of cocoa - maybe that chocolate bar we just downed came out of Ghana. Anyway, Ghana is actually going for a different target now: the health tourist.

It turns out that quite a lot of Ghanaians get medical degrees overseas, and one way of enticing them back to Ghana has been to open a bunch of top-class medical clinics. Sadly, of course, the average Ghanaian citizen can't afford to visit such a clinic—but a tourist can, and for a normal tourist, the prices are bargain basement while the care is excellent.

Cosmetic surgery is high on the list of tourist-wants, although simpler treatments like massages and detox are popular too. So far, the foreign visitors seem to be mostly the wealthy from other African countries, but when celebrities start getting boob-jobs in Ghana, you can say that you read it here first.

Related Stories:
· Ghana Targets Health Tourism Boom [BBC]
· Ghana Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: bagaball]

The CDC Adds Medical Tourism To Its Travel Health Guide

amandak — 2009-08-17T09:14:36-05:00

Nervous about traveling abroad because you might pick up some flesh-eating illness or other? Fear no more: the Center for Disease Control has just released the 2010 edition of the CDC Health Information for International Travel, the yellow bible which contains everything you need to know about staying healthy while you're outside the United States.

This new edition has got a section on medical tourism, so you can figure out which cheaper country is the safest to get your next bit of cosmetic surgery. It's also got advice on newly popular destinations that your local doctor might not know too much about, including Mount Kiliminjaro, India, China and Nepal.

At 540 pages in hardback, this is no backpack travel guide, but instead is something you have to digest thoroughly while you're planning your trip. And while we of course advocate traveling safely and healthily, we're not quite sure we'll be keeping this book at our bedside before our next trip abroad. Perhaps someone else could read it and tell us the important bits?

Related Stories:
· International Travel Health Guidebook Gets Updated [AJC]
· Medical Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

Seoul: South Korean Housewives Forced To Live With Fewer Facelifts

pbb — 2009-01-02T15:15:42-05:00

The economic crisis won't even spare the real housewives of South Korea: After riding high on Botox and nose jobs, newly frugal plastic surgery aficionados are, ahem, cutting back on procedures as clinics are closing down for lack of business.

In Seoul, where The New York Times reports there are more than 600 plastic surgery clinics, 20 or so have already closed, with more posting "for sale" signs in the windows. Says one surgeon:

In hard times, people always cut back on luxuries like eating out, jewelry and plastic surgery. If this is a normal recession, then these desires will eventually get reignited, and our patients will come back.
If this downturn is like the Great Depression, then we are all going to get killed off.

The good news--for those of us spending dollars, anyway--is that South Korea has gotten about 25 percent cheaper in the last six months, as the financial crisis has shored up the value of a buck. And now that you can get more than 1,200 won for a dollar--and clinics are desperate for customers--now might be the time to check out a swanky destination hospital or clinic in Korea.

[Photo: DanMelinger]

Turns Out South Korea Is Just As Shallow As Thailand

pbb — 2008-11-17T11:30:14-05:00

After watching Thailand, India and Argentina grab all the headlines--and big-spenders--South Korea is now courting medical tourists looking for everything from cheap joint replacements to low-cost breast implants. Government officials are encouraging the nascent industry, too, by relaxing immigration rules and working with foreign hospitals so potential patients will decide to have procedures done in Korea instead of elsewhere in Asia.

On Jeju Island south of the mainland, for example, the Wooridul Spine Hospital is adding apartments, a concert hall and an art museum to its existing amenities, which include a golf course, says The New York Times. A government official says:

We believe this is a major future industry for our island. The town will specialize in medical checkups, long-term convalescence and procedures Korean doctors do well and cheaply, such as plastic surgery and dentistry.

After reading a first-hand account of one of these swanky Asian destination hospitals, we're actually considering going to have a bit of dental work done ourselves. After all, if you're gonna suffer for your pearly whites, might as well get an international vacation starring UNESCO-recognized lava tubes thrown in for your trouble, right?

Related Stories:
· South Korea Joins Lucrative Practice of Inviting Medical Tourists [NYT]
· Wooridul Spine Hospital [Official Site]
· Jeju Island to Have Foreigners-Only Medical Centers [Korea.net]
· Plastic Surgery Travel: Thailand [Jaunted]

[Photo of Jeju Island: karendotcom127]

India Welcomes People Who Want to Make Babies

amandak — 2008-10-22T12:00:49-05:00

India's plans for outer space domination might be progressing only slowly, but when it comes to fertility tourism they're doing very well.

For those unlucky souls who have trouble producing children, India is welcoming them and offering fertility treatment such as IVF cycles for a fraction of the price in countries like the United States or Britain.

There are two bonuses here: One, the laws connected to fertility treatments are a lot more lax so you can get pretty much get anything you need; and two, you get an interesting Indian holiday thrown in with your baby-creating experience.

Related Stories:
· Indian Clinics Woo Fertility Tourists [news.com.au]
· Let's Hope the Mayor Isn't Hiding up There [Jaunted]
· Medical Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: flypig]

Poprad: Cold Travel: Freeze Yourself for Health in Slovakia

amandak — 2008-09-29T09:00:36-05:00

From the front, the AquaCity building in Poprad looks like a harmless water park with a fun, twisty slide. But what they actually do inside is freeze people.

We're not trying to say that the pool temperatures are just a bit low or something. We mean that you can actually go there for some cryotherapy which involves walking around a chamber where the temperature is minus 184 degrees F.

Apparently doing this for a couple of minutes will give you (surprisingly) a warm glowing feeling and can suppress inflammation and pain for weeks. (Kind of like applying a full-body ice pack.) AquaCity has been winning a bunch of green awards for being all sustainable and eco-friendly, so they're doing something right, although we still wonder if they have a room full of snap-frozen tourists hidden somewhere.

Related Stories:
· AquaCity [Official Site]
· Stripped to Your Undies in Minus 120 Degrees [The Age]
· The Big Chill [Jaunted]

[Photo: xgeorg00]

Bangkok: First-Person Medical Tourism: How Are the Dentists in Bangkok?

pbb — 2008-09-04T16:00:22-05:00

Geopolitics junkie and Knife Tricks blogger Paul Karl Lukacs had a bit of an oral revelation the other day, and since it's 2008, he blogged about it. Problem? Infected wisdom tooth. Solution? Surgery at Bumrungrad International Hospital in Thailand.