Popularity of medical tourism has been growing for over a decade. It started with people who wanted to have cosmetic surgery abroad and were looking for lower prices and anonymity. Since that time, it has moved into the area that is not associated with cosmetic surgery anymore. Nowadays, patients from different parts of the world travel for orthopedic and heart surgery, dentistry, hernias, cataracts and almost any type of elective surgery there is.

India is by far the most popular destinations. Popularity of this destination is caused by its low-cost treatment. It is evaluated that costs of treatment in India are approximately one tenth of the price of identical procedures in the United States or Britain. Many of the doctors got their education or practiced in the West, therefore their skills and experience are as good as their in case of their western colleagues. People in many countries must wait a long period of time before they can undergo a surgery, so such countries have created links with India for fast treatments for their nationals. The Indian government has developed ideas such as a fast-track visa for foreign patients. However, there are also some strong competitors. For example, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore have government-supported medical tourism programs.