Argentina Medical Tourism
In South America, Argentina is known for their advanced health care system and highly skilled doctors. There are many modern hospitals and clinics throughout the capital city of Buenos Aires. Argentina's doctors began seriously targeting international patients soon after the 2003 devaluation of the Argentine peso sent the economy into recession. As a result, most treatments cost around a third of US prices.
One of the big draws for going to Argentina is that its cosmetic surgeons are among some of the best in the world. Recently, Buenos Aires hosted an international symposium on plastic surgery where they discussed the most popular procedures available including ultrasonic liposuction and breast implants. Argentina's plastic surgeons are skilled because domestic demand for breast implants, laser surgery and nip-and-tuck treatments is sky high in this fashion-conscious country where looking good is always in style. One in 30 Argentinians are estimated to have gone under the plastic surgeon's knife, making the population the most operated on in the world after the US and Mexico.
One example of a boutique clinic in Argentina's capital who over the last five years has learned to cater to the medical tourism boom is a group called Plenitas. Based in a three story office in the city's exclusive Belgrano district, the company employs a dozen surgeons to work with its client base of foreign patients. Plenitas will meet their patients at the airport, book their accommodation, arrange for them to meet the surgeon beforehand and then follow up with them once they return home. When Plenitas quotes you a price it includes hotel accommodations, airport transfers and travel advice. In addition, patients are assigned an English-speaking personal assistant for the length of their stay.
The strategy is working. Launched in 2003, Plenitas has expanded on its initial breast implants and tango package with a wide range of different surgical procedures. Plenitas attracts hundreds of patients a year from all over the world. The majority come from the US, where the notion of medical tourism has exploded in the patients mind looking for fun in the sun and a procedure to go with it.
Argentina is a traveler's paradise due to its gorgeous landscapes, beautiful cities, lively culture and its stunning natural wonders. Unlike the Andean nations where North Americans and Europeans are obvious tourists, in Argentina you can travel while feeling at ease and blending in with the peoples of European descent. An added bonus to Argentina is the relatively cheap transportation, food, and lodging due to an affordable economy that was put in place by a major economic downturn five years ago.
Buenos Aires is a fabulous city full of opportunities to practice your Spanish, dance the tango, shop for designer clothes and catch a soccer game which is clearly the sport of the country. If you travel a bit south you will be in the heart of the Lake District home to lovely lakes, green pastures among a Swiss like setting of majestic beauty. If you travel west of Buenos Aires towards Mendoza you will be in Argentina's wine country home to some of South America's best vineyards and similar to the areas of Napa and Sonoma valley in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mendoza is one of Argentina's finest cities with outdoor cafe's, a bustling shopping district and beautiful plazas which adorn the lush valley with giant sycamore trees watered by irrigation channels that flow throughout the city.
With its world-class surgeons, clinics specializing in international patients, affordable prices and reputation as an exotic tourist destination--home to snow-capped mountains, crystal-clear lakes, colossal waterfalls and gaucho-strewn prairies--Argentina makes for an excellent destination for medical tourism.
