Costa Rica, a country renowned for its beautiful beaches and lush forests, as well as for its "Pura Vida" lifestyle, is an important destination for North American tourists who are also seeking dental and health services.
Prior to Covid-19, Costa Rica was amongst the top countries chosen by Americans for dental tourism. They took advantage of less expensive, high-quality dental treatments such as dental implants in Costa Rica while enjoying a great vacation in this beautiful country.
Not only does Costa Rica offer impressive scenery, but they have state-of-the-art equipment, many dentists who have trained in American dental schools and English-speaking staff.
Furthermore, its geographical location is a significant advantage: short and direct flights from more than 10 US cities.
"We chose Costa Rica after careful research. It is one of the top five destinations for American patients traveling abroad. All of the dentists we considered had US certifications. I was impressed by the first conversation. In addition to his friendliness and patient focus, he is extremely well-qualified, as well as all clinic staff. In fact, we would make the same decision again," said Michael Parsons, an American dental service patient.
"The quality of the health services offered in Costa Rica is associated with highly trained bilingual professionals and a committed and specialized workforce, many of the doctors are graduates of the best schools in the United States and Europe," said the CEO of the Promoter of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica (PROCOMER), Pedro Beirute.
Costa Rica Has Impressive Medical Standards
Furthermore, as an element of differentiation, some dental clinics comply with strict standards to form part of the recognized country brand "Esencial Costa Rica", which has an evaluation protocol based on the values exporters are subject to in order to improve their processes and be more competitive at an international level.
Costa Rica is a Role Model for the Rest of The World
With the country's management of Covid-19, Costa Rica has proven to be a role model in the health industry of countries that have successfully contained and treat their patients.
Basing decisions and actions on scientific evidence, prioritizing the preservation of life and the protection of health on any topic, including politics, has allowed Costa Rica to successfully face the coronavirus pandemic, according to an opinion article published in the newspaper "El País of Spain".
The comment was published by Alice Shackelford, UN Resident Coordinator in Costa Rica and María Dolores Pérez-Rosales, who is a representative of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Costa Rica.
Two months after the first case was announced, Costa Rica registers only ten deaths, while other countries such as Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom count their deaths by the thousands.
"The country has historically had a robust and universal health system with coverage of approximately 95% of the population. This has contributed to the life expectancy in the country reaching 79.6 years and being one of the highest in the world, as indicated by the World Health Organization," says the article.
From the moment the coronavirus began to spread around the world, Costa Rica had already advanced, by naming Daniel Salas, an epidemiology expert, as the leader in the country's preparedness and response.
"Costa Rica also had care and preparedness plans for possible pandemics, based on previous experiences with avian influenza, AH1N1 influenza, and SARS, in which the minister himself had participated as coordinator and part of the technical teams of surveillance of the Ministry of Health. He, along with the president of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund, Roman Macaya, became reference points and authorities for the entire population, on the measures to follow to prevent infections and stop the spread, " the report said.
