A patient receives a Botox treatment at the Sanatorio Diquecito Health Resort in Cordoba.

The breadth and depth of medical tourism offerings keep expanding in Argentina thanks to continued cost advantages, an increase in the number of specialists catering to foreign patients and more coordinated marketing efforts abroad. A new article in Iguazu Noticias charts the maturation of the industry, the emergence of regional centers of medical specialization and the most sought after procedures by foreign visitors.

As it relates to medical tourism in Argentina, the term “foreign” refers to international patients as well as national patients who travel from one province to another for surgery. While Argentina continues to be a magnet from neighboring countries, the number of  patients traveling from as far away as the U.S., Canada, Spain and other European countries is growing as well.

Domestic patients travel from the interior of the country to cities like Buenos Aires and Cordoba where the quality of care and hospital facilities are superior, while international patients come for the tremendous cost savings for elective and non-elective medical procedures that carry exorbitant price tags at home.

The top ten most common procedures associated with medical tourism in Argentina include 1.) plastic surgery (breast implants, liposuction, face-lifts), 2.) ophthalmology, 3.) dental surgery, 4.) weight loss, 5.) fertility treatments, 6.) vaginal rejuvenation, 7.) eye surgery, 8.) cardiology, 9.) addiction treatments and 10.) cancer treatments.

In recent years, major metropolitan areas in Argentina have become synonymous with certain procedures thanks to the number of specialists and facilities involved like breast augments and IVF treatments in Buenos Aires, weight loss in Cordoba and eye surgery in Mendoza. (Full Story in Spanish)