Regional differences in the level of development of medical tourism in Belarus

Authors

  • Dzmitry A. Harkun Fanipol Gymnasium named after A. I. Gurin, 34 Kamsamolskaja Street, Fanipal 222750, Belarus
  • Anton M. Tsitou Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliezhnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

Keywords:

medical tourism, Belarus, healthcare infrastructure, level of development of medical tourism, medical tourism index, complex typology
Supporting Agencies
The authors express their gratitude to the reviewers of the journal for their valuable recommendations, which helped to improve the scientific level of the article.

Abstract

Scientific approaches to the concept of medical tourism are systematised and an overview of the existing methods for its study by foreign scientists is provided. The dynamics of key indicators of medical tourism development in Belarus (provision of healthcare institutions providing paid medical services per 100 thsd people; provision of practicing doctors and mid-level health workers per 10 thsd people; cost of the most popular medical services for citizens of Belarus and foreign citizens) and some indicators of the healthcare system (number of public and private medical institutions; share of healthcare expenditure in the budget of administrative-territorial units; volume of healthcare expenditure per one public institution; number of hospital beds per 10 thsd people) characterising the potential for the development of this type of tourism for the period from 2019 to 2024 are analysed at several spatial levels. The article reflects the international specialisation of Belarus in the field of medical tourism, which is based on oncological, ophthalmological and cardiological operations, dental services, in vitro fertilisation, organ and tissue transplantation, spa treatment and rehabilitation. A comparative geographical analysis of the specialisation of Belarus and neighbouring countries in the field of medical tourism has been performed for a number of quantitative and qualitative indicators. A comprehensive assessment of the current state of medical tourism in Belarus was carried out, as a result of which a typology of administrative-territorial units according to the level of its development was proposed. Based on the presented typology, a predominance of regions with a low level of medical tourism development was established, which are characterised by low provision of healthcare institutions providing paid medical services per 100 thsd people, prices for medical services above the national average, insufficient provision of medical personnel and a limited list of medical services. In the overall structure of the typology, districts of this type account for 46 %. They are mainly concentrated in the Vitebsk and Grodno regions. It was also established that the most promising regions for the development of medical tourism are the Minsk and Gomel regions, as well as the city of Minsk.

Author Biographies

  • Dzmitry A. Harkun, Fanipol Gymnasium named after A. I. Gurin, 34 Kamsamolskaja Street, Fanipal 222750, Belarus

    geography teacher

  • Anton M. Tsitou, Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliezhnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

    PhD (geography); associate professor at the department of economic and social geography, faculty of geography and geoinformatics

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Published

2025-08-13

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No. 1 (2025): Journal of the Belarusian State University. Geography and Geology

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Geography

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Regional differences in the level of development of medical tourism in Belarus. (2025). Journal of the Belarusian State University. Geography and Geology, 1, 3-23. https://journals.bsu.by/index.php/geography/article/view/6915