In one of the key outcomes of the European Medical Travel Conference 2010 in Monastier, Italy, the European medical travel industry has announced the issuance of the “Declaration of Venice,” calling on industry and government actors to cooperate and work together to help grow the medical travel industry.
The Declaration calls on providers to recognize the “right of citizens to travel for the purpose to receive access to or better healthcare services,” the “need for global health systems to respond better to the needs of increasingly mobile citizens,” and the necessity of “integrat[ing] better health and tourism services” through greater investment.
The Declaration was intended, in part, to reaffirm the rights of European citizens to travel throughout Europe and the world to receive the best possible medical care at affordable prices. The document stresses cooperation between all levels of the sector, including public tourism agencies, government actors, and healthcare providers.
Contributors to the declaration hope that the document’s publication will help impress upon European politicians that the medical tourism industry is here to stay, and that it will encourage all players in the medical tourism industry to strive for greater value, safety, access, and quality in medical tourism.
In cooperation with the Taiwan Task Force for Medical Travel