Trading health services across borders: GATS, markets, and caveats.
The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is the result of an ongoing process of opening national markets to foreign health services within an international framework of trade agreements that prohibit discriminatory treatment of foreign suppliers. Developing markets are growing, as is demand for health care services, and most of this demand is being met by the private market. The globalization of health services requires the resources of the academic and corporate sectors of the developed world for equitable and sustainable growth. Health services trade should be seen as a tool for achieving these goals, rather than as an end in itself.
Mutchnick
lan S
lS
Neurosurgical Institute of Kentucky, University of Louisville School of Medicine, USA. ianmutchnick@yahoo.com
Stern
David T
DT
Moyer
Cheryl A
CA
D006296:Health Services; D007391:International Cooperation; D011057:Politics; D014481:United States