Grant: CIHR Café Scientifique Program

Medical tourism (international medical travel initiated by individuals seeking care in other countries for any number of reasons) is an ethically problematic phenomenon. As this global business continues to expand, its effects challenge global health equity, particularly in low- and middle-income countries trying to attract wealthier, fee-paying patients. The growth in private facilities catering to such patients may 'crowd out' access to essential health care for poorer citizens in these countries. Two other types of medical tourism pose particular concerns: reproductive tourism and organ transplant tourism (often referred to as the organ trade). In the proposed Café Scientifique, three experts will discuss the ethical issues which arise from these three forms of medical tourism: the growth in globalize private medical markets for those able to pay, the surge in reproductive medical travel and the persisting organ trade. The objectives are to address what we know about medical tourism, what we don't know but should know, and why we, as Canadians, should be concerned ethically about the phenomenon.