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Albanian WHY ARE THE HEALTH COSTS CHEAPER IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES?
Reasons
for the acceleration of health tourism
One of the main reasons for the acceleration
of health tourism is the difference in health costs between developed and
developing countries. Countries such as Turkey, India, Thailand, Malaysia and
South Korea are all among the most popular health tourism destinations as they
have low costs when it comes to medical equipment and labor. For those visiting
these countries for health tourism, the costs they will face are significantly
below the cost of treatment in their own countries. Although this is seen as a
great advantage in terms of health tourism for developing countries, it should
not be forgotten that low medical costs can raise questions about service
quality in the minds of health tourists. Therefore, potential customers in
health tourism should always be well informed.
More
reasonable property values and construction costs
Reasonable building costs and low property
values are one of the main reasons why health costs are lower in developing
countries. Property is one of the most important investments for the health
sector, and the value of property is very low in developing countries.
Hospitals and health centers need large areas to accommodate various machines,
infrastructure and diagnostic facilities. As real estate prices rise, medical
costs will undoubtedly rise as well. Therefore, low property prices are one of
the factors that keep health costs low in developing countries.
Low
cost government taxes
We know that every single product manufacturer
or service provider has to pay tax to the authorities in order to sell their
products and services. The cost of occasional services is also subject to state
tax.
Developing countries are gradually realizing
the economic and cultural importance of health tourism and are taking
appropriate steps. At this time, medical facilities or agencies that wish to
participate in the health tourism sector are entitled to tax credits and
government incentives in developing countries. This practice implemented by
states for the growth and development of the health tourism sector naturally
reduces costs.
More
affordable medical supplies, equipment and medicines
The services provided and the materials and
equipment used make up a significant part of the total cost, especially in
health tourism. As can be expected, the price scale in developing countries is
more suitable in this regard. Cost-effective production of medical equipment
and medicines and easy availability of medical consumables can help reduce the
overall cost of care in medical tourism. This is an even more important topic
in long-term treatments.
In addition to medical supplies, equipment and
medicines, prescription drugs are also often cheaper in the medical tourism
sector in developing countries. Prescription drugs form an integral part of the
total cost of treatment. The governments of various health tourism destination
countries offer more substantial subsidies for emergency medicine and many
other types of medicine. This means that medicine and treatment can be provided
to health tourists in these countries at low costs. High drug prices in
developed countries inevitably lead to higher costs not only for
hospitalization, but also for regular treatment and consultations. For these
reasons, by comparison, healthcare costs are much lower in many developing countries.