While the Asian hubs for medical
tourism such as India, Malaysia,
Singapore, and Thailand continue
to harvest increasing revenues from
exports of health services,1
some
Nepalese political elites, including
some of the most infl uential leaders,fl y
abroad to receive medical treatment.2
Although healthy leaders might be
a prerequisite for a healthy nation,
trends such as politicians travelling
to foreign countries for costly health
care negatively affect the national
economy, seriously undermine local
expertise, and most importantly,
contribute to inequity in health care.