International Trade in Services.pdf - DSpace at Khazar University

132 International Trade in Services
Box 4.11: Case Study: A Successful Government-Led Strategy to Develop
Medical Tourism, Cuba
The Cuban government views health export promotion as an important part of its
overall economic development strategy. Cuba has long been a popular destination
for medical tourism, attracting patients mostly from Europe and elsewhere in Latin
America and the Caribbean and North America.
A number of specialized clinics in the country provide high-quality care at
competitive prices and also function as training centers for medical schools for
domestic and foreign students. Early in the process, Cuba’s strategy focused on
health spas and mineral springs, medical support and emergency care for travelers,
and the supply of specialized medical care not readily available elsewhere in Latin
America and the Caribbean. It also aimed at specialized services, focusing on the
treatment of certain kinds of skin disease that are not treated in other countries and
on the development of new procedures and medicines. This trade promotion
strategy had several underlying objectives, including the employment of qualified
health service providers, the use of excess capacity for the manufacture of medical
and pharmaceutical products, and the use of trade resources to invest in health care
infrastructure and the public health system.
Cuba’s success in the health service trade may be attributed to the foresight and
long-term planning of the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with other institutions,
in the areas of tourism, migration, commerce, and industry. An important factor in
this success has been the establishment of Grupo Cubanacan (formerly Servimed), a
state-run trading company hosted by the Ministry of Health, which supports the
marketing and promotion of Cuban health services overseas. Cubanacan, together
with tour operators and travel agents in target markets, prepares health packages
that include air travel (on Cubana de Aviación, Cuba’s national airlines) for patients
and accompanying persons, companion personnel to accompany patients after
arrival at the airport, 24-hour assistance, treatment, repatriation, and postoperative
checkups. Cubanacan relies on a network of 35 clinics and 42 resorts in Cuba, private
clinics overseas, and commercial representation in target markets such as Argentina,
Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and República Bolivariana de Venezuela.
Cuba offers free or subsidized care to patients from some countries, essentially
countries in Africa and Latin America. Cuba has also concluded bilateral agreements
with social security institutions in several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean
to facilitate trade. In addition, the government has provided for easy payment facilities
for credit cards in any convertible currency. Two smaller agencies have also been
established in health tourism to provide rehabilitative and convalescent health services
through resorts and spas following the Cubanacan model.
Source: Blouin, Drager, and Smith (2007).
governments have played an important role in the success of the countries that are
leading health service exporters. Public sector involvement could be crucial at all
stages from the design to the implementation of export promotion strategies.
A common problem is the lack of statistics on trade in health services that could
translate into a lack of coherent sectoral development strategies by governments.
For example, in elaborating an export strategy for medical tourism, one would