Final answer:
Medical tourism is driven by the challenges of healthcare systems, such as high costs, access, and quality of care. While the U.S. offers high-quality care and innovations, it struggles with cost and universal access. Various global organizations work to assist in healthcare improvement worldwide.
Step-by-step explanation:
Medical tourism refers to patients traveling to a different country for either urgent or elective medical procedures. This trend has emerged as a response to the challenges faced by healthcare systems around the world, including the high costs, inequality of access, and quality of care. The largely private U.S. healthcare system, despite providing high-quality care and medical innovations, struggles with controlling costs and providing universal basic medical care. Conversely, other countries might offer lower costs and more equal access to healthcare, but they may have issues with rapid access and the cutting-edge medical treatments available in the U.S.
Ongoing global efforts to achieve a balance in healthcare systems often look at the efficacy of combinations of modern and traditional medicine. The role of organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and the World Health Organization is crucial in assisting countries where healthcare needs are dire. As medical tourism continues to grow, it reflects the broader structural differences and challenges in healthcare administration and delivery, highlighting the varied methods different countries employ to meet the healthcare needs of their populations.