Trade in health services is part of the larger phenomenon of globalization of services, wherein services have become increasingly tradeable through different modes of delivery and are playing a growing role in the growth and development process of economies. The provision of health services forms the backbone of any health system.
The impact of trade on countries’ health systems may vary a lot according to various factors, including the mode of services delivery, the structure of the domestic market for the provision of health services, and the adequacy of accompanying regulations and policies. In other terms, tradein health services may create opportunities and have a number of benefits – not only for the business partners involved in trade, but for the population as a whole, but it could also potentially have a cost and negative effects. This section of the study reviews those effects, and suggests solutions – on the basis of country case-studies – to maximize the positive and minimize the negative spill-over effects of trade. It also stresses that the common tendency to protect the domestic market against imports could prove particularly damaging in the health sector: imports are just as important as exports – if not more important. Given that the four modes of service delivery are intertwined, it could also prove a vain attempt. For example, a country that does not allow foreign investment in the health sector or does not allow foreign doctors to practice locally.
The impact of trade on countries’ health systems may vary a lot according to various factors.