Article by Josh Harrison

When travelling abroad on holiday, no one expects to fall ill, and if you are visiting overseas destinations it really is important to give some thought to the healthcare available and how to deal with an unforeseen medical situation in a foreign country. The unfamiliar environment can contribute to great distress for the unsuspecting tourist. Having to communicate in a foreign language with different and unfamiliar customs and the inability to understand what is happening can be very frightening. It is important to know that there are some unscrupulous medical centres around, particularly in popular tourist resorts where they prioritise financial considerations over quality of treatment and there are plenty of pitfalls to affect the unsuspecting tourist.In Europe most countries have a very robust State healthcare system that provides the very highest levels of medical facilities and expertise. Generally if you fall ill, there is no shortage of medical care available, however, if you travel to Southern Europe, along the Mediterranean coast, (this area includes countries such as Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus etc.) you may find that, although there are State Health facilities, many private outpatient and inpatient hospitals have been built specifically to deal with the tourist market and one needs to take certain precautions if medical attention is required.Often in these countries there is a whole network that has been established to take tourists directly to a private hospital or its affiliate outpatient centres where they commence an elaborate treatment regime which is often very expensive and often clinically unnecessary, purely for monetary gain. If you have travelled without Travel Insurance or without a reputable insurance product, this can lead to great personal hardship with treatment costs often ending up in thousands of dollars.One infamous example of this type of abuse, which has been highly publicised in the European Press, occurred recently in Corfu. It was found that numerous tourists, who, after suffering a minor fall which resulted in a mild ankle sprain, were being x-rayed and operated upon under general anaesthetic for a procedure which was not medically appropriate. Not only was this potentially life threatening and likely to cause unnecessary complications but also very expensive