By EurekAlert
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
This press release is available in
French.
Montreal, October 7, 2009 - Medical tourism in Latin America
needs to be regulated to protect consumers, according to
Université de Montréal researchers. A new study
published in the journal Developing World Bioethics argues
that Argentinean fertility clinics are increasingly marketing
themselves to international health care consumers: these clinics
offer all-inclusive packages with fixed prices that feature
airfare, accommodations, transfers, language interpreters and, of
course, fertility treatments.
"The appeal of such packages is obvious: healthcare consumers
need not worry about any of the practical details of their trip -
budgeting, travel arrangements or language barriers - and can
instead focus on obtaining quality medical services combined with a
vacation. Non-accredited clinics in Argentina offer much more
competitive prices for services in comparison with clinics in North
America or Europe. For example, in vitro fertilization in the
United States runs upwards of $10,000 U.S. per cycle of treatment,"
says Bryn Williams-Jones, a bioethics professor in the
Université de Montréal's Department of Social and
Preventive Medicine, who coauthored the paper with graduate
students Elise Smith, Carolina Martin and Jason Behrmann.
An increasing number of private fertility clinics have opened in
developing countries such as Argentina over the last decade and are
attracting consumers through lower pricing. There are two
subcategories of medical tourism clinics: accredited centres that
are part of the broader healthcare industry and non-accredited
clinics focused on medical tourism. "While the 'big players' in
medical tourism, such as India and Poland, are actively involved in
the fertility sector, so too now are Latin American countries such
as Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Argentina," says Dr.
Williams-Jones.
Reproductive tourism clinics are targeting wealthy North
American or European couples through the Internet. "The main
interest for these individuals to become medical tourists is the
high cost, long waiting lists, or even the absence of access
assisted reproductive technologies services at home," says Dr.
Williams-Jones.
Developed and developing nations have encouraged the practice of
medical tourism, the authors argue, because of the economic
spinoffs. Legislation and professional guidelines - both local and
international - are needed to regulate the conduct of private
fertility clinics in order to ensure that services are safe and
effective. "It is in the best interests of consumers, health
professionals and policy makers that the reproductive tourism
industry adopts safe and responsible medical practices," says Dr.
Williams-Jones.
SOURCE