international trade in health services in the selected countries of asean region; challenges and opportunities

introduction: equitable access to a basic set of health services at minimum quality and   affordable price is the right of every citizen and in all countries the governments have the duty to deliver these services to the population. international trade in health services influences the balance between equitable distribution of these services, creating incentives to improve the efficiency of health systems, and managing the limited financial resourcesof the governments. it also creates opportunities and challenges for health systems and communities. this paper reviewed different modes of trade in health services and investigated the opportunities and challenges resulted from this kind of trade in the selected countries of asean region to make iranian health policy makers and operators aware of trade in health sector. methods: this paper was resulted from a section of an applied descriptive-comparative study about international trade in health services conducted during 2008-2010. data was collected using digital and printed resources. the research population included 3 countries of asean region, namely malaysia, singapore, and thailand. the extracted information was used to generally picture the status of international trade in health services in the region and to compare the related opportunities and challenges. results: international trade in health services in the studied countries involved 4 modes including supply as cross-border supply of the services, consumption abroad (health tourism), commercial presence (foreign direct investment), and temporary immigration of persons (health professionals). the trade provides opportunities for earning revenues and promoting the quality of available health services, but it also raises challenges in competing with other countries (of asean) and in accessibility and affordability of health services for the country population. conclusion: the most important challenges the asean countries face in developing trade in health services include accelerating credit provision for service providers, portability of health insurance, developing and protecting the private sector, cooperation between the public and private sectors, and expanding the trade based on relative strengths of each country in order to improve the health sector.