History of Medical Tourism
The history of medical travel is inseparable from that of medicine itself. The written word has many a time illustrated how humans have voyaged to the end of the world to find remedies for their ailments; to get themselves the best possible cure, sometimes at the cost of all their possessions, severing ties with their homeland and even life. This chapter of human history is unparalleled, because had our ancestors not explored the realms of earth to find cures for themselves, today we wouldn’t be where we are in terms of curative knowhow.
Humans have also traversed through several eras of medical treatment. Several thousand years of history have been researched to discover how ancient civilizations cured their maladies. These historic journeys of humankind, across the globe can be chronicled as different epochs that portray how the phenomenon has progressed over time.
History of Medical Tourism
Although the term Medical Tourism has been coined recently in past few years, the concept is very old and the history can be traced back to B.C. era where once can find archaeological evidences. People at that time travelled to temples for curing some of their disorders. Also Greeks and Roman travelled as far as Mediterranean for regenerative and relaxing treatments. Medical tourism is often thought of as a recent phenomenon. One may find this a bit difficult to swallow but the truth lies in the history where such pilgrimages were conducted for medical purposes in Greece. The truth, however, is that people have been traveling long distances to better their health for thousands of years. Granted, it’s hard to picture a swarthy chieftain traipsing across the desert on his camel to barter for a nicer set of pearly whites. Were clinics and hospitals even around that long ago, thousands of years ago?
Archaeological evidence from the third millennium B.C. suggests that ancient Mesopotamians travelled to the temple of a healing god or goddess at Tell Brak, Syria, in search of a cure for eye disorders. A few thousand years later the Greeks and Romans would travel by foot or ship to spas and cult centres all around the Mediterranean. The Asclepia Temples, dedicated in honour of the Greek god of medicine, were some of the world’s first health centres. Pilgrims would sometimes spend several nights in the temple, hoping Asclepios would appear in a dream and suggest a diagnosis or treatment.
Later in the 16th and 17th centuries, spa towns such as St. Moritz and Bath became prime destinations for the European upper classes looking to soothe their ills. What kind of “procedures” were the ancients seeking? No butt lifts or hip and knee replacements, that’s for sure. Many were looking for “healing” waters or the benevolence of the gods to cure common ailments of the time such as rheumatism, syphilis, gonorrhea, blindness and paralysis.
Modern medical tourism as we know it today has largely been the result of several factors including the high cost of medical care in first world nations, ease of long distance travel, and advances in information technology.