Vaccine scandal in China should be a success for medical tourism



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The quality of health care in China is often debatable. High net worth individuals travel to countries and regions beyond mainland China for better care – whether they are vital, preventative or cosmetic – and even a growing number of poor people are traveling to the country. abroad for cheaper and better care. The problem also seems to be coming up again and again. Two years ago, China experienced a major vaccination scandal. Now, China is in the midst of another vaccine scandal that is taking place that keeps parents across the country on the lookout – and on the lookout for vaccinations abroad. This time, it appeared that two Chinese vaccine manufacturers were selling DTP (diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus) vaccines that were ineffective.

Medical scandals in the past coincided with dramatic increases in Chinese medical tourism abroad

There is the fact that the current scandal has implications for Chinese medical tourism was confirmed by Ctrip which recorded a staggering 500% growth in medical tourism in 2016 – the year when the last major vaccine scandal was revealed

. a reliable growth sector in Chinese travel tourism, and Chinese consumers have only become more affluent, more well traveled, and better versed in the type of medical tourism products available in the global market.

With this in mind, it is certainly far from unfathomable that the Chinese vaccine scandal of 2018 will bring Chinese medical tourism to new heights – and for very unfortunate reasons.

Many worri Chinese parents are already trying to travel to Hong Kong to get effective vaccines for their children

According to the South China Morning Post based in Hong Kong a deluge of Chinese parents discouraged by the vaccine scandal trying to bring their children to Hong Kong – and beyond – to gain access to vaccines that do what is advertised.

"I am ashamed to have crossed the border to take a vaccine, and I understand very well if the Hong Kongers are angry at us for doing it, but that's just what I need to do as a mother, "said a mother from Shenzhen to the newspaper.

Indeed, easy-to-access countries with well-developed medical tourism facilities like Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, South Korea , Taiwan and Thailand appear to be the most likely destinations for many of these potential medical tourists for the first time.

Hong Kong has long been a medical tourist destination for Chinese citizens h Western medicines of high quality

Unfortunately, overseas clinics do not necessarily necessarily guarantee better care than in China.It is true that the current scandal of vaccination against China is isolated in mainland China, Hong K Ong, too, does not have a perfect roadmap for immunization. Earlier this year, Merck's HPV Gardasil 9 vaccine was oversold in Hong Kong, leaving some Chinese medical tourists with no further doses needed after the first or second administration.

That supply of alternative vaccines to vaccines manufactured in China confused in the scandal will last is to guess. As evidenced by the Gardasil 9 debacle, increasing production in the face of demand fueled by medical tourism is easier said than done.

There is also the risk that medical tourism destinations will feel compelled to ration vaccine supplies for the local population. to what many countries have decided to do after Chinese travelers started buying formula milk after the 2008 Chinese milk scandal.

Although it is not clear exactly how things are going to get unfold, the current scandal will only feed the Chinese. growth of medical tourism. Let's hope that medical tourism will avoid disappointing Chinese parents in the same way as national health care providers.

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