Medical tourism is a growing sector in India. India’s medical
tourism sector is expected to experience an annual growth rate of 30%, making
it a $2 billion industry by 2015.[1][2] As medical treatment costs in the developed world balloon -
with the United States leading the way - more and more Westerners are finding
the prospect of international travel for medical care increasingly
appealing. An estimated 150,000 of these
travel to India for low-priced healthcare procedures every year
A separate study by ASSOCHAM reported that the year 2011 saw 850,000 medical
tourists in India and projected that by 2015 this number would rise to
3,200,000
• In addition to receiving
traditional medical treatments, a growing number of western tourists are travelling to India to pursue alternate
medicines such as Ayurveda
• The number of medical
tourists visiting Kerala was close to 1,00,000
in 2010.
• To encourage the growth of
medical tourism, the government also is providing a variety of incentives. As well as expedited visas for overseas
patients seeking medical care in India
• The compatibility of
infrastructure with the tourist
Why Medical Tourism India
India
has one of the best qualified professionals in each and every field, and this
fact has now been realized the world over. Regarding Medical Facilities India
has the most competent doctors and world class Medical Facilities. With most
competitive charges for treatment, India is a very lucrative destination for
people wanting to undergo treatment of certain medical problems who do not need
immediate emergency treatment.
India
offers World Class Medical Facilities, comparable with any of the western countries.
India has state of the art Hospitals and the best qualified doctors. With the
best infrastructure, the best possible Medical facilities, accompanied with the
most competitive prices, you can get the treatment done in India at the lowest
charges. A patient can come to India to undergo medical treatment and along
with that can have the Indian tourist and pilgrim destinations, as and when
advised by the Doctors. The whole thing would save a lot of money and will get
to discover India at the same time.
Why India
India
is a leading player in the medical tourist/healthcare Facilitation industry. It
is increasingly emerging as the destination of choice for a wide range of
medical procedures. There are numerous advantages of going to India for
treatment. Some of the advantages of going to India for medical treatment are:
Alternative
Therapies in India for Medical Treatment
India
is renowned for ancient alternative therapies such as Ayurveda, Yoga and
Meditation, and Therapeutic Massage. India is an exotic tourist destination
offering everything from beaches, mountains, cosmopolitan cities, quaint
villages and pilgrimages to suit every palate. Rich in history and culture,
India has proved to be an oasis in the modern world, providing complete health
and well being, while providing the latest in technology
Seeing
the huge potential in the sector, the government has also started issuing M
(medical) visa to the medical patients, and MX visas to the spouse accompanying
him, which are valid for a year. Two lakh medical tourists visited India last
year, and the figure will grow by 50% this year.
India
is being promoted as a healthcare destination in the ongoing 'Incredible India
campaign,' being run by the tourism ministry. The campaign would promote Indian
hospitals abroad as centres offering best medical services. In addition,
availing medical services in India costs about a tenth of what it is in US, and
one-sixth in UK. Not only this, the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals (NABH), a body set up to ensure safety and hygiene norms for
hospitals, has already started the process of granting accreditation with 70
hospitals in the process of getting approval [chairman of CII's national
committee on healthcare, Dr Naresh Trehan]
India
now offers the latest techniques such as robotic surgery, and gamma-knife
treatment for brain tumors. The efficacy of treatment compares with that in the
West, with the death rate from coronary bypasses at 0.8% compared to 2.35% in
the US. Union health minister stated the government is considering the Clinical
Establishment Bill that would mandate accreditation for hospitals down to the
district and village levels.
Kerala-The Pioneer State
Kerala has pioneer health
tourism in India. Kerala has strongly focused on Ayurveda and its wide array of
treatments and medications, good facilities are also available in other
traditional forms of medicine as well as in modern medical treatment. Kerala is
Capitalizing on its Rich Cultural Heritage and alternate Medical Therapies.
Karnataka’s Foray
The government of Karnataka
has ambitious plans to make Karnataka the top health tourism destination not
only in India but internationally. In fact, the government is setting up a
Bangalore International Health City Corportation for provision of a wide
variety health care products and treatments.
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu has multi
speciality hospitals that offer the best medical treatment at surprisingly low
rates. In the state various other forms of medicine, viz, Siddha, Ayurveda,
Unani, Nature Therapy and Yoga are also
practiced, which the
foreigners are inclined to patronize. The Tourism Department is taking steps to
promote the illness to wellness concept by developing tourism with health care.
Maharashtra’s Unlimited
Potential
This state, as a gateway to
India, offers tremendous potential to develop medical tourism. The latest
addition in Mumbai is the Asian Heart Institute at Bandra-Kurla complex, which
offers state-of-the art facilities for all types of heart complications and
even preventive cardiological treatment to avoid heart alignments and keep under
control a host of heart problems. This institute in collaborating with the
Cleveland Institute, U.S.A offers ‘Five Star’ services at reasonable prices.
The
weaknesses are as follows:
• Lack of uniform pricing
policies across hospitals.
• Lack of international
accreditation – a major inhibitor
• Overseas medical care not
covered by insurance providers.
• Under – investment in
health infrastructure.
• Identifying a real
practitioner is a major problem in India.
• Exploitation of tourists by
illegal money operators.
The role of State Government
for success in medical tourism is two-fold:
• acting as a Regulator to institute a uniform grading and
accreditation system for hospitals to build consumers’
trust.
• Acting as a Facilitator for encouraging private investment in medical
infrastructure and policymaking for improving medical tourism.
This UK
patient avoided the NHS list and flew to India for a heart bypass. Is health
tourism the future? Three months ago George Marshall fretted about the choice
offered by his doctor in Britain. Diagnosed with coronary heart disease, the
violin repairer from Bradford was told he could either wait up to six months
for a heart bypass operation on the National Health Service or pay £19,000 to
go under the scalpel immediately.
In the
end, Mr Marshall chose to outsource his operation to India. Last month he flew
5,000 miles to the southern Indian city of Bangalore where surgeons at the
Wockhardt hospital and heart institute took a piece of vein from his arm to
repair the thinning arteries of his heart. The cost was £4,800, including the
flight.
"Everyone's
been really great here. I have been in the NHS and gone private in Britain in
the past, but I can say that the care and facilities in India are easily
comparable," says Mr Marshall, sitting in hospital-blue pajamas. "I'd
have no problem coming again."
The
73-year-old found the hospital in Bangalore after a few hours surfing the
internet. Mr Marshall decided to come after an email conversation with
Wockhardt's vice-president and a chat with other "medical tourists"
from Britain who had undergone surgery in the hospital.
"Once
I knew others had come I thought, why not? In Europe hospitals in Germany and
Belgium would do the operation for less than doctors in Britain. But Europe was
still more expensive than here. And the staff speak English in India."
With patients such as Mr Marshall willing to travel across the globe to
get treatment sooner or more cheaply than they could at home, Indian hospital
groups see a huge market for their services. This was an article onThe Guardian - UK.
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