Medical travel has the capacity to counter increasing costs of health care by creating new markets and increased revenue for health services, potentially benefiting local populations, economies, and health-care systems. This paper is part of a broad, comprehensive project aimed at developing a global health access policy (GHAP). It presents key issues to consider in terms of ensuring economic viability, sustainability, and limiting risk to the many stakeholders involved in the rapidly expanding industry of medical travel. The noted economic and legal barriers to medical travel are based on a synthesis of themes found in an extensive review of the available literature. Economic considerations, when setting up a GHAP, include a dynamic approach to pricing that is fair to the local population. Legal considerations include the implementation of international quality standards and the protection of the rights of those traveling as well as those of local populations in recipient countries. By taking into account these opportunities, the GHAP will more adequately address existing gaps in the economic and legal regulation of medical travel.

Department of Politics and International Relations University of Oxford Oxford UK

Department of Psychology Faculty of Arts Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

Department of Psychology Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim Norway

Department of Psychology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK

Department of Social Policy London School of Economics London UK

Policy Research Group Department of Psychology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK; Engineering Design Centre Department of Engineering University of Cambridge Cambridge UK

The Policy Institute King's College London London UK

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Global Access to Health Care and Well-Being: A Place for Policy and Science