Dhaka, Sept. 12 -- Health tourism involves traveling abroad to access health-related services such as advanced medical treatments, wellness programs, preventive care, and rehabilitation.

It combines healthcare with travel, motivated by factors such as cost, quality, availability, or specialized expertise that may be unavailable or more expensive locally. It has become a significant global industry.

For countries like Bangladesh, which currently experience high outbound medical travel and limited inbound flows, the question is whether health tourism can function as a targeted economic and public health strategy instead of just an individual coping mechanism. Global leaders in medical tourism implement a combination of policies, both hard...