New York:
Nearly a third of people surveyed across the globe say they’re open to traveling abroad to undergo surgical procedures at a lower cost.
The survey, conducted by independent market research company Ipsos on behalf of Reuters News, may reflect the perception of superior medical care in other countries, Nicolas Boyon, senior vice president of Ipsos Public Affairs, told Reuters .
A report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which ranked cosmetic surgery among the most common reasons for medical travel, cites the trend as being driven by the lower cost of treatments available in less-developed countries combined with cheaper flights and a steady rise in Web-based services and travel brokers.
Thirty-eight percent of Americans said they would consider medical tourism and 66 percent of respondents from Italy said they would definitely or probably consider medical tourism. In Canada, 48 percent of those surveyed would consider traveling for surgery, while 41 percent in Canada said the same.
The Ipsos poll also noted that adults under age 35 and those ages 35 to 49 were more likely (34 percent collectively) than patients ages 50 to 64 (15 percent) to travel for medical purposes. Men (19 percent) were slightly more likely than women (17 percent) to travel for procedures.
The survey included respondents from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States.
source: http://www.modernmedicine.com / Home / by Heather Onorati / Cosmetic Surgery Times eNews Newsletter
