What geographic or international health equity issues exist within and between countries participating in or attempting to establish regulations for the global medical tourism market?
Health equity implies the absence of unjust health differences among different social groups on different levels of the social ladder. Inequity in health isolates people on the basis of gender, poverty level, religion, and race. It is an ethical issue and is associated with human rights policies (Cattan & Tilford, 2006). The medical tourism market involves the provision of medical services to international patients.
Countries that practice medical tourism enhance their economic development though there is a certain risk. The risk involves sabotaging projects aimed at improving health equity both inside and outside the country. The rise in global health care systems has reduced their capability of meeting the goals of “Health for All” stated in the WHO Declaration of Alma Ata and safeguarding people’s rights to health.
The promotion of medical tourism may motivate the distribution of public resources to the private sector in order to support medical tourism (Hodges, Kimball & Turner, 2012). More so, medical tourism may lead to a transfer of professionals to the private health sector. This may result in a scarcity of health professionals in public health systems. Medical tourism also encourages the training of health professionals for more expensive and complex procedures, which attract medical tourists. This may reduce the provision of affordable and appropriate health services to local inhabitants. Medical tourism questions the credibility of health systems in the departure countries (Cattan & Tilford, 2006). This is because of the deviation of resources that are employed to take care of the sick in other countries at the cost of less privileged.
Do you believe that mental health is receiving an equal amount of attention as physical health worldwide?
Mental health is not receiving sufficient attention globally. Very few resources are allocated to the treatment of mental health as compared to physical health (Cattan & Tilford, 2006). Moreover, less funding is provided to do research in this sphere. This underfunding worsens during a recession because of the absence of a national tariff for mental health.
Mental health is not receiving much focus because of the stigma. Stigma is caused by heightened negligence among the general public and media about mental disorders. This is linked to fear of the mentally ill and the image painted by the media regarding associated risks and dangers. In addition, a bias against mental health exists in various medical centers.
People with mental disorders have low access to advanced treatment. More so, mental patients often have to wait for long months and years to get appropriate treatment. The long wait for medical care may cause the disease to advance to more severe stages, which can be difficult to treat. There is enough evidence that people with mental sickness are rejected on the basis that they are not severely sick to get emergency treatment.
The choice and ability to make decisions are not available for patients with mental health problems as they have little say on issues pertaining to their treatment (Cattan & Tilford, 2006). Admittedly, mental patients (and sometimes their caregivers) do not get sufficient (or adequate) attention and support from consultants as well as healthcare professionals on the best choices to make regarding their treatment.
Reference List
Cattan, M., & Tilford, S. (2006). Mental health promotion: A lifespan approach. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill International.
Hodges, J., Kimball, A., & Turner, L. (2012). Risks and challenges in medical tourism: Understanding the global market for health services. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.