Australian news media framing of medical tourism in low- and middle-income countries: a content review

Michelle Imison,Stephen Schweinsberg

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-109

Michelle Imison, Stephen Schweinsberg

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-109

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Abstract

BackgroundMedical tourism – travel across international borders for health care – appears to be growing globally, with patients from high-income nations increasingly visiting low- and middle-income countries to access such services. This paper analyses Australian television and newspaper news and current affairs coverage to examine how medical tourism and these destinations for the practice are represented to media audiences.MethodsElectronic copies of Australian television (n = 66) and newspaper (n = 65) items from 2005–2011 about medical care overseas were coded for patterns of reporting (year, format and type) and story characteristics (geographic and medical foci in the coverage, news actors featured and appeals, credibility and risks of the practice mentioned).ResultsAustralian media coverage of medical tourism was largely focused on Asia, featuring cosmetic surgery procedures and therapies unavailable domestically. Experts were the most frequently-appearing news actors, followed by patients. Common among the types of appeals mentioned were access to services and low cost. Factors lending credibility included personal testimony, while uncertainty and ethical dilemmas featured strongly among potential risks mentioned from medical tourism.ConclusionsThe Australian media coverage of medical tourism was characterised by a narrow range of medical, geographic and ethical concerns, a focus on individual Australian patients and on content presented as being personally relevant for domestic audiences. Medical tourism was portrayed as an exercise of economically-rational consumer choice, but with no attention given to its consequences for the commodification of health or broader political, medical and ethical implications. In this picture, LMICs were no longer passive recipients of aid but providers of a beneficial service to Australian patients.

Highlights

Medical tourism – travel across international borders for health care – appears to be growing globally, with patients from high-income nations increasingly visiting low- and middle-income countries to access such services
Since our findings showed that both television and newspaper portrayals placed greater emphasis on the appeals than the risks or factors lending credibility to medical tourism, it was perhaps unsurprising that the ethical interest expressed in this coverage was largely at the level of the individual Australian patient, their experiences and feelings about the process
The present research explored the content of Australian television and newspaper coverage of medical tourism, and the presentation of both medical tourism and its Low- and middleincome country (LMIC) destinations

Summary

Introduction

Medical tourism – travel across international borders for health care – appears to be growing globally, with patients from high-income nations increasingly visiting low- and middle-income countries to access such services. The mainstream news media are central to the formation of public ideas about health and medicine in highincome countries, and about the world beyond our nations’ borders [1,2]. Both broadcast and print coverage in high-income nations tend to provide limited menus of topics and approaches to different areas of news interest, driven by what is logistically and culturally accessible for media outlets, and perceptions of what is personally and. As a high-income nation, Australia is a prospective source country for medical tourists

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