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South–South medical tourism and the quest for health in Southern Africa

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  • Crush, Jonathan
  • Chikanda, Abel

Abstract

Intra-regional South–South medical tourism is a vastly understudied subject despite its significance in many parts of the Global South. This paper takes issue with the conventional notion of South Africa purely as a high-end “surgeon and safari” destination for medical tourists from the Global North. It argues that South–South movement to South Africa for medical treatment is far more significant, numerically and financially, than North–South movement. The general lack of access to medical diagnosis and treatment in SADC countries has led to a growing temporary movement of people across borders to seek help at South African institutions in border towns and in the major cities. These movements are both formal (institutional) and informal (individual) in nature. In some cases, patients go to South Africa for procedures that are not offered in their own countries. In others, patients are referred by doctors and hospitals to South African facilities. But the majority of the movement is motivated by lack of access to basic healthcare at home. The high demand and large informal flow of patients from countries neighbouring South Africa has prompted the South African government to try and formalise arrangements for medical travel to its public hospitals and clinics through inter-country agreements in order to recover the cost of treating non-residents. The danger, for ‘disenfranchised’ medical tourists who fall outside these agreements, is that medical xenophobia in South Africa may lead to increasing exclusion and denial of treatment. Medical tourism in this region and South–South medical tourism in general are areas that require much additional research.

Suggested Citation

  • Crush, Jonathan & Chikanda, Abel, 2015. "South–South medical tourism and the quest for health in Southern Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 313-320.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:124:y:2015:i:c:p:313-320
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.06.025
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Melville Saayman & Andrea Saayman, 2012. "Shopping Tourism or Tourists Shopping? A Case Study of South Africa's African Tourism Market," Tourism Economics, , vol. 18(6), pages 1313-1329, December.
    2. AfDB AfDB, . "Annual Report 2012," Annual Report, African Development Bank, number 461.
    3. Chuang, Thomas C. & Liu, John S. & Lu, Louis Y.Y. & Lee, Yachi, 2014. "The main paths of medical tourism: From transplantation to beautification," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 49-58.
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    Cited by:

    1. Muhammad Ali & Anita Medhekar, 2018. "Healthcare Quality of Bangladesh and Outbound Medical Travel to Thailand," Economy of region, Centre for Economic Security, Institute of Economics of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, vol. 1(2), pages 575-588.
    2. Hartmann, Sarah, 2024. "Smoothness as a quality of care: An STS approach to transnational healthcare mediation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 347(C).
    3. Miraj Ahmed Bhuiyan & Tiziana Crovella & Annarita Paiano & Helena Alves, 2021. "A Review of Research on Tourism Industry, Economic Crisis and Mitigation Process of the Loss: Analysis on Pre, During and Post Pandemic Situation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-27, September.
    4. Emmanuel Nii-Boye Quarshie & Priscilla Ayebea Davies & Pearl Ama Otoo, 2021. "Setting Mental Health Priorities in Ghana: A 15-Year Contextual Analysis of the Presidential State of the Nation Address," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-12, September.
    5. Loh, Chung-Ping A., 2015. "Trends and structural shifts in health tourism: Evidence from seasonal time-series data on health-related travel spending by Canada during 1970–2010," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 173-180.
    6. Mohammad Jamal Khan & Firoz Khan & Saba Amin & Shankar Chelliah, 2020. "Perceived Risks, Travel Constraints, and Destination Perception: A Study on Sub-Saharan African Medical Travellers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-16, April.
    7. Kaspar, Heidi & Abegg, Alwin & Reddy, Sunita, 2023. "Of odysseys and miracles: A narrative approach on therapeutic mobilities for ayurveda treatment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).

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