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Medical Tourism - A Guide To Belgium
Located right in the heart of the European Union, Belgium is lucky enough to boast a highly sophisticated healthcare system. All citizens are covered for medical procedures under a national scheme. Capacity in the system is excellent and waiting lists virtually non-existent.
Belgium is an example of when more can also mean better. Surrounding the national medical system is a comprehensive range of private medical providers experienced in multiple specialties. With such an effective public health system, private clinics have to offer the very best levels of care to compete and medical tourists can take advantage of this. |
The prompt service in Belgian hospitals will come as a pleasant surprise to visitors from the British Isles, who often face a wait of several years for joint replacement procedures. In Belgium a hip replacement can be organized and completed in a few short weeks.
Costs are low too: A knee arthroscopy in Belgium can be less than half the price of the same procedure in a British facility (*). Belgium is already picking up the shortfall in the British health service carrying out triple heart bypass operations that cannot be completed in time at home (**).
The Belgian capital Brussels is a European hotspot for medical technologies. More than 6000 lecturers and researchers in the healthcare sector () push the boundaries of medical knowledge. Close co-operation between hospitals, biotechnology firms and medical equipment manufactures gives the Belgian health sector immediate access to the latest technologies.
In an operation that seems more at home in a science fiction blockbuster Belgian cardiac surgeons pioneered a surgical technique for heart disease that uses miniaturised robotic techniques instead of open-heart or keyhole surgery ().
Belgium has an excellent network of medical societies overseeing the operations of their members. These bodies monitor standards among their members and ensure that information about the latest procedures and techniques are disseminated across their specialties.
Belgian medical facilities have long been subject to rigorous checks on quality of care and have recently trialled accreditation programmes based on American and international schemes. The proof of Belgian success is in the real world evidence of one of the lowest incidences of the MRSA 'superbug' in the world.
A centre for European healthcare excellence, Belgium offers a broad range of medical services at very competitive prices.
* International Herald Tribune, April 24, 2004.
** BBC News, 21st July 2003.
MediMap Europe: http://www.medimap.eu/medimap/rprofiles/r_profil_68.html
BBC News, Monday, February 1, 1999.
Copyright 2007 Reva Health Network
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