For Bosnian citizens living outside the major cities, the idea of people actually travelling to the country for treatment is a bit of a strange one. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s medical infrastructure, while generally pretty good, and improving all the time, is not as comprehensive in rural areas as it is in the cities. Problems stemming from wartime issues still remain in the medical sector to some extent, particularly within the countryside. However, in the cities, it’s a different story. Sarajevo in particular is able to offer top-standard healthcare quickly and efficiently – so much so that people are starting to come from all over the world, willing to pay for medical procedures to be carried out in Sarajevo.
Cross-Balkans Network
Back in 2012, a health and medical tourism network was established across the Balkans. Initially, the aim was to identify potential areas for tourism, and work on expanding the region’s profile in the global medical tourism market. The Adriatic Health And Vitality Network, as well as working on expanding the medical tourism potential of Bosnia and Herzegovina, also put money into improving healthcare facilities and training up medical staff. Naturally this is something which benefits the people of the Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the potential tourists. The AHVN were very optimistic about the Balkan states’ potential for medical tourism, noting that comparative cost-of-living and cost of medical procedures often rendered top-quality treatment here far cheaper than patients could expect in their home nations – particularly if their home nations relied upon a health insurance system rather than universal healthcare. In recent years, the AHVN’s predictions have proven correct, as a steadily increasing stream of medical tourists flow into Sarajevo.
Dental Growth
One of the fastest growing areas of medical tourism in Sarajevo is that of dental tourism. Dentistry is a peculiar branch of medicine. Dentists are often unaffiliated with healthcare systems as a whole, meaning that even nations with universal healthcare may still have to pay for dentistry. In the UK, for example, dentistry can technically be acquired via the National Health Service – but, unless the dental condition is directly affecting personal health – charges may still be incurred. Furthermore, NHS dentists are few and far between – and private dentistry is prohibitively expensive. So expensive that even the combined cost of flights to Sarajevo, hotel, dental procedure, and general travel expenses come in at far less than just the procedure would cost in the UK. Getting a new smile and a great holiday combined for less money than you would pay for just one of these at home is a very tempting prospect. Tourists from the USA – where dental health is hard to come by at anything approaching a reasonable price – are increasingly heading to Bosnia for their dental work, as are tourists from Western Europe, and even Australia!
Health And Economic Boost
Of course, all of this provides a considerable boost to the Bosnian economy. Money flowing in from abroad is one of the best ways to enhance an economy. Tourism is a very important sector of the Bosnian economy as a whole, so the government are naturally eager to grow any aspect of tourism that they can. Medical tourism is particularly desirable, as money pouring into the Bosnian healthcare system from outside naturally improves that system for Bosnian citizens. However, some have raised concerns that greed may exert its inexorable pull, and that the healthcare needs of Bosnians (who benefit from Bosnia’s universal healthcare, and subsidies inherent therein) will start playing second-fiddle to lucrative procedures for tourists. This has been seen to happen in Hungary, where dental tourism is a well established and very profitable business. Hungarians have had to put stringent regulations in place to ensure that procedures for foreigners don’t take precedence over procedures for Hungarians – however much money those foreign procedures bring in. It is to be hoped that medical tourism in Bosnia will benefit the healthcare needs of Bosnian citizens, rather than seeing them sidelined in favour of tourists – but if this proves not to be the case, perhaps we can take a look at Hungary, and implement similar regulations to make sure that Bosnians get the best of both worlds!
Written by: Ms Gemma Hurst
