SFU conference examines ethics of medical tourism
Valorie Crooks, Geography, 778.782.8917; c: 604.417.9007; crooks@sfu.ca
Jeremy Snyder, Health Sciences, 778.782.3258; jcs12@sfu.ca
Julie Ovenell-Carter, PAMR, 778.782.3210; joc@sfu.ca
Media wishing to attend the conference should send an e-mail to medtour@sfu.ca
Simon Fraser University will host the first international conference focusing on ethical issues in the multi-billion-dollar medical tourism industry June 24-25 at the downtown Vancouver campus.
Organizers Valorie Crooks, an SFU health geographer, and colleague Jeremy Snyder, a bioethicist, want to expand the academic discussion about the ethical implications of medical tourism—the rapidly growing practice of travelling across international borders to obtain timely and/or inexpensive health care.
The conference will gather more than 70 researchers, health policy experts and industry representatives from six countries to offer a range of views on the complex and controversial issue.
Topics include medical tourism and national healthcare planning; marketing of medical tourism; reproductive, organ and death (euthanasia) tourism; and social justice perspectives.
Crooks and Snyder are leading the first academic study of medical tourism funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research. Their team is currently investigating why and how Canadians go abroad for surgery and how they weigh ethical concerns.
“Medical tourism should be of ethical concern to all Canadians on two fronts,” says Snyder. “Within Canada, it may help create a two-tier medical system in which some patients can opt out of wait times for surgeries by going abroad for care.
“Beyond Canada, medical tourism may create problems in the host country’s health system by diverting resources from the public to the private system and leaving poorer citizens behind.”
On the other hand, says Crooks, some scholars argue that medical tourism can bring social and economic benefits to less developed countries through improved health care infrastructure and/or increased tourism revenues.
“There’s a significant tension between the theory and practice of medical tourism,” she says. “This is the first conference ever to explore these issues. We want to open our minds to the complex nature of medical tourism before rendering the ultimate decision about whether it is a good or bad thing.”
The conference is free and open to all, but advance registration is required: e-mail medtour@sfu.ca or go to www.sfu.ca/medicaltourism.
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