Outbound medical tourism boom may turn to bust as local facilities open. New specialist hospitals and clinics in Kazakhstan may mean fewer go overseas in future years.
According to a bulletin from the World Health Organisation, Kazakhstan nationals spent $208 million on medical tourism in 2015. Numbers and spend are expected to increase in 2016 due to the lack of local facilities. But new specialist hospitals and clinics in Kazakhstan may mean fewer go overseas in future years. It is a classic medical tourism story of people going overseas when local facilities are few, investors seeing opportunities to fill local needs, and patients then staying at home to use the new local services without the problems of travel and language.
Kazakhstanis mostly went to hospitals in Israel, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey and China. Many go for cardiac treatment and neurosurgery.
Where people go for surgery is changing as prices and availability alter. China and Singapore are being replaced by the cheaper South Korea. Asia is becoming more popular due to higher costs associated with treatment in the United States, Switzerland and Germany.
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