At the of 2020, the global translation industry was estimated to be worth 56 billion USD, up from 33.5 billion USD in 2014. Some people might find this increased demand for translators surprising, given the growth in free online translation machines, mobile applications, online dictionaries, and even resources with features allowing you to record or scan documents for free, to get an instant translation, such as the Google Translate app. However, we all know that although these resources can be useful for the odd word here and there, or basic conversational phrases when on holiday, they are simply not accurate or reliable enough to be a threat to the translation industry. But aside from these shortfalls in free machine translation resources and the obvious impact of the ever-growing phenomena of globalisation, why has the translation industry seen such huge growth in recent years?
Multicultural Societies
One potentially underestimated factor is healthcare. Nations such as the UK, the USA, Canada, Spain, France and other EU countries are becoming increasingly multicultural and therefore multilingual societies. The people utilizing the national healthcare systems of the country they have moved to are of many different nationalities and often don’t have the official language of the country as their mother tongue. Along with all the other documents that need translating when a person emigrates to another country, if they are looking to access healthcare in their destination country, their health records, medical notes, prescriptions and any other information about their medical history need to be translated so that future doctors can treat them appropriately. In addition, the host country needs to be aware of and provide for the multilingual nature of their society, by having patient information leaflets, letters, signs in facilities, websites etc. translated into languages comprehensible by all its residents. Furthermore, when the patient accesses healthcare in their new country of residence, they may not feel capable or comfortable carrying out consultations, appointments or phone calls in the language of the country, and therefore would need access to an interpreter present at these appointments to ensure they fully understand what is going on and can express themselves fully.
Health Tourism
Not only is translation and interpretation necessary for some residents in a country, but also for health tourists. This relatively new concept, health tourism, is where people choose to have medical treatment overseas, for a variety of reasons. It could be that they want a treatment or procedure that is not offered in their home country but is in another. It could be that they want top quality treatment from a specific facility overseas that is famous for its specialisation or success in that area. Or it could be that healthcare provision in their own country is significantly poorer quality, or more expensive, than in another country. All countries have different healthcare systems, provisions, quality, costs and ease of access, and there is great disparity across the world in all these areas. In health tourism situations, it is possible that the patient may not be familiar with the language of their destination country at all, therefore they would need an interpreter and a translation of all documents involved in the treatment. In addition, it is likely that the patient would need various official documents, medical and otherwise, to travel to this country and legally undergo the treatment in question. Therefore, a translator would be needed even prior to travel, and most likely in the case of official documents for travel, a sworn translator or sworn translation agency such as CBLingua, in order for all documentation to be valid.
When we think of the translation industry and its role in the modern world, health care and particularly health tourism don’t spring to mind. However, it is evident that in all situations of healthcare and health tourism, translation and interpretation are integral part of providing a fair, appropriate and dignified service.