To prevent and heal several diseases, to retard the aging effects and to control the body weight are factors that are increasingly concerning ordinary people. As time passes and medical techniques advance, such trend of searching for longevity and to maintain the health by means of innovative medical and esthetic treatments has been growing in the same proportion as well as the amount of people interested in such subject. While Brazilian people travel to other countries to be submitted to up-to-date medical treatments, as it is the case of Cuba, foreign people come to Brazil searching for innovative surgeries and fertilization processes.
Today, medical treatments and therapies are not restricted to the people’s original territory. The practice of the Health Tourism is already quite common, and the path foreseen is the gradual strengthening of such new tourism modality.
A foreign person coming to Brazil due to health problem is the one that stays longer in the country (around 22 days), with average expenses of US$ 120 per day. An estimate total of 200 thousand foreign persons already visited Brazil in the last years seeking for medical treatment.
Thus, Brazil starts to conquer a new room into the global market in this area. The practice of travelling to another country to get medical treatment moves US$ 60 billions all over the world.
According to the Deloitte Center for Health Solution, 750 thousand North-Americans travelled as health tourists in 2007.
Up to 2012, it is estimated that the amount of patients will increase to 1.6 million, meaning a 35% sustainable growth per year. USA are leader in the ranking of countries that send patients seeking for international treatment, followed by Canada, Italy, Portugal, China and Angola.
Thailand is in first place, as the country receiving most international patients: 1.2 millions in 2007. Coming next, India received 450 thousand international patients with, a 20% growth in such market between 2006 and 2007. in order to conquer its own space in such promising scenery, Brazil has intensifying its strategies to attend the demand. Many of its hospitals are being improved. Further to adapting their administrative routine aiming to facilitate the attendance of these patients, hospitals are looking for certifications such as the JCI (Joint Commission International), a non-profitable organization that certifies medical institutions by the most strict quality standards. Brazil has 22 medical institutions certified, and from this total, 13 are in Rio de Janeiro, eight in São Paulo and one in Porto Alegre (RS). In Belo Horizonte, five hospitals have already received the ONA (National Organization of Accreditation) certification, another entity actuating with certifications in the health area.
The country already is worldwide reference in plastic surgery, dental treatments, bariatric surgeries and in orthopedics, cardiology, neurology, and human reproduction, having more certified hospitals with International Accreditation than the world leaders.
Brazilian hospitals also count on specialized departments to attend and give support to these patients during their passage by the institution, even helping in cultural issues such as language, adaptation to the Brazilian hospital environment and food, among other needs, and adopting international quality of service standards, investing in bilingual teams to attend foreign patients with excellence.
In Brazil, Health Tourism has being structured and growing, and excellence hospitals already feel the increase in this sector. In these hospitals, the amount of patients who come outside Brazil already represents a good slice of the total internments, and for the next year, there is a 50 to 60% increase estimated.
Another attractive point to the Health Tourism is the price. Developing countries like Brazil invest in new technologies, seeking to spread new treatments. A prove of this are several clinical surveys performed in the country that are applied and recognized worldwide. In their majority, treatments are considered cheaper, bringing in their luggage the same quality available in other countries.
The terms hydrothermal, hydromineral, hydrotherapy, thermal, and well-being tourism, water tourism and several others are also quite used, and they can also be understood as Health Tourism.