Caring for Non-residents in Barbados: Examining the Implications of Inbound Transnational Medical Care for Public and Private Health Care

Barbados is a tourism dependent island state whose income is very sensitive to perturbations in the global economy and is thus seeking ways to diversify its service exports:Barbados has a two-tiered health system with a publicly funded health system operating alongside numerous private clinics.Private provision of health services in Barbados has grown between 2000-2010.Barbados has an established history of providing health care to ill vacationers, other Caribbean residents and more recently, small but growing numbers of medical tourists seeking fertility care.The Bajan government is aggressively promoting the development of their medical tourism industry, including the facilitation of the development of a mid-size private hospital catering primarily to medical tourists.The development of medical tourism services in Barbados carries with it the potential for some economic gains, but also significant risks to health equity if mismanaged or left unregulated.