The Balkans are becoming a center of medical tourism for Europeans
The Balkans are gradually becoming a center of medical tourism for residents of Europe, Bloomberg reports. According to agency sources, in recent years the flow of tourists from Europe and the US to the countries of the region has been constantly growing, with most of them traveling to the Balkans for affordable and high-quality medical services.
The main provider countries of high-quality and affordable medicine for Europeans today are Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, and Hungary. Despite serious damage from the 2008 economic crisis, in recent years these states have invested large sums in building and maintaining a network of modern dental clinics and plastic surgery centers, as well as hospital complexes.
In addition to attracting clients from Europe and the US, the development of modern medicine should help Balkan countries reduce the outflow of qualified industry workers. Today, about 70% of Romanian doctors work in public institutions, and for Croatia this figure is 90%. Their average annual salary is $20,000, while in Germany this figure is $82,000. This leads to large-scale labor migration of Balkan medical workers to Western European countries.
For example, after Romania's accession to the EU in 2007, more than 25,000 doctors and 15,000 medical workers left the country. In 2013, 600 industry workers left Bulgaria, and Croatia lost more than 500 doctors.
However, large-scale investments in healthcare today allow a serious increase in the profitability of Balkan medical facilities. To boost medical tourism volumes and reduce the outflow of staff, the Croatian government even created a special supervisory body – the Institute of Medical Tourism, headed by the assistant minister of health of Croatia, Milijenko Bura. According to him, already today European patients of Croatian clinics bring about 1.5% of the annual tourism revenue, which equals $8.8 billion.
"In the next few years, this figure could rise to 5%," Bura believes. He also noted that with the progressive development of the industry, Croatian medical workers will return to work in their homeland. "The wonderful Croatian climate, combined with the most modern technologies in our private clinics and the highest level of qualification of our doctors, gives the country an incredible potential for the development of medical tourism," Bura concluded.
A resident of the American city of Dubec, Alice Dolphin, said that she is very satisfied with the quality of Croatian medical services. "Very cheaply, I got a vacation and incredible quality dental care. Back home, it would have cost me more than $45,000," she emphasized.
A similar situation is observed in Romania. In 2014, medical tourism brought more than $250 million to the country's budget, and the total number of European clients of Romanian clinics by the end of 2015 could exceed 500,000 people. "This figure could even increase if plans for building medical infrastructure are fulfilled," notes the managing director of Seytour SA, Andrei Nata.
Surgical assistant Otilia Florescu, who has been practicing in Italy for seven years, also noted a sharp rise in the quality and profitability of Romanian healthcare. "Many of my clients go to Romania for dental and surgical services because there is excellent quality of medicine and prices are almost half as low," she stated.
The Hungarian government has invested more than $76 million in medicine since 2012, focusing on modernizing spa resorts and dental clinics. As a result, in 2013 the number of medical tourists grew to 2 million, with most of them visiting Hungary for thermal springs.
"The development of the private healthcare sector will allow Balkan countries to increase the profitability of the industry and will attract previously departed specialists to return," believes economist Dan Buska of UniCredit Bank AG. According to the expert, the quality of medicine as a result of the transition of public workers to the private sector will only improve, while the overall state revenues will also increase.
Vladimir TODOROV.
"Gazeta.ru"