People travel out of the country to receive medical care for a variety of reasons. They can’t afford the treatment they need, their insurance company doesn’t cover the treatment they need, the wait-list for their treatment is too long,or the treatment they need is simply not available in their own country. If you’re thinking about getting surgery overseas or abroad, there is literally a world of options available.Different countries are renowned for having specialists in different fields, so you should choose the country accordingly. Here is a brief look at some of the medical travel options there exists.

Africa and the Middle East

Jordan and Israel are the two most popular destinations for medical tourism in the North Africa/Middle East region. Many of the people who travel to Israel for medical reasons are from Central European nations like Romania, where certain surgical procedures are not available. Israel is known for its high quality in-vitro fertilization treatments and its Dead Sea spa, a world famous therapeutic resort where many go to recover.

Latin America

Brazil has enjoyed long-time popularity as a cosmetic surgery capital, and it is still generating a considerable amount of medical tourism and revenue because of it. As far as non-cosmetic medical procedures go, however, Brazil has just now entered the market.

Cuba, on the other hand, has been a non-cosmetic medical tourist destination for over 40 years. It’s attractions include experienced doctors, beautiful beaches in which to recuperate, and medical costs that are 60 – 80% lower than medical costs in the U.S. Mexico is another long standing medical tourist destination, especially for U.S. residents who regularly cross the border for dentistry and plastic surgery treatments.

Asia

Korea has quickly been rising as a medical traveling destination in recent years, and was even featured on CNN as one of the “hottest destinations” for medical tourism. Korea is popular amongst Japanese cosmetic surgery patients.

Thailand is a long standing player in the medical tourism industry and is still growing. In 2005, one Bangkok hospital alone reported serving over 150,000 medical tourists. The treatments offered in Thailand include cosmetic surgery, organ transplants, cardiac surgeries and orthopedic treatments.