We carried out a non-systematic literature review. Articles
were considered if they were found in any of six databases
under the terms “medical tourism” or “medical travel” since
the year 2000, with no language restrictions. The databases
used were PubMed, EconLit, Google Scholar, the World Bank
research database, Europe PubMed Central and EMBASE. We
identified primary themes to be reviewed through common
arguments used in higher quality sources as well as through
common topics in low-quality or potentially very biased
material. Papers were included if they provided specific
data, policy or practice analyses, or substantial insight to key
themes, regarding travel for necessary care. Where available,
we extracted estimates of the numbers of medical travellers
within the last 10 years.