The Search for Medical Technologies Abroad: The Case of Medical Travel and Pediatric Oncology Treatment in Argentina

Many of the discussions related to technology in academia focus on the processes of innovation and the adaptation of technologies to suit the needs of users, rather than issues of access to technology and inequalities in its distribution. Medical travel, the process through which individuals leave their place of origin in search of medical services, is one of the strategies used to surmount obstacles and gain access to medical technologies. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the importance of taking into consideration the social, cultural, and economic factors, as well as those of structural violence, that play a role in patients’ decisions to undertake medical travel. The article uses data collected from Bolivian and Paraguayan families who traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina to request pediatric oncology treatment for their ill children to highlight the different ways in which the experience of medical travel is shaped by constraints in the country of origin, policies in the host country, and the characteristics of the individuals who are migrating. The experiences of these families point to the fact that medical travel is not only used by economically comfortable patients searching for quicker, cheaper, or more private services, but can also be a strategy used by economically challenged patients who see travel as the only way to save their lives.