Medical Tourism- a new possibility
Posted : October 28, 2004 at 7:20 am [IST]
India’s medical tourism dream seems to be bearing the desired results: It is attracting an international spectrum of patients. Patients from the UK and US too are now part of the 1.5 lakh foreigners - mainly NRIs, West Asians and Africans. The patients have publicly endorsed India: “The doctors are great, the service is great and it’s affordable”
One chose India because of lack of a medical insurance to cover the expensive valve replacement surgery in US, while another didn’t want to wait endlessly for his turn in the UK National Health Service. Cheap healthcare is indeed drawing foreigners to India. However, it mainly the confidence to have the world class medical service and attention is the main reason behind the inflow. Some good work has come from media and some from the words of mouth from those who have experience with Indian doctors. Treatments related to varying complicated and complex problems are being carried out successfully and to the full satisfaction of the patients and their relatives. Foreigners found India equally suitable for knee replacement, congenial heart problem, brain tumour, facial reconstruction, cancer.
The Washington Post carried one article on October 21. Tom Raudaschl, a mountain guide in Canada, chose Apollo Hospital, Chennai, for a ‘hip resurfacing’ operation over his country’s long waiting list and America’s expensive price tag. “Medical tourism is another example of how India is profiting from globalization. - the growing integration of world economies - just as it has already done in such other service industries as insurance and banking, which are outsourcing an ever-widening assortment of office tasks to the country.” ‘The Week‘ in its October 31, 2004 issue has carried a cover feature on medical tourism.
A joint study conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-McKinsey in April estimated that medical tourism can generate Rs 5,000-10,000 crore additional revenue for tertiary hospitals by 2012. The Maharashtra state government and FICCI are planning initiative to transform Mumbai into an international healthcare hub.
Why can’t India emulate Thailand, which gets one million international patients every year? A team of CII, FICCI and representatives from private hospitals last month toured Thailand and Singapore.
The Thailand study reveals that each medical tourist brings in revenue of $600 as against $230 from an ordinary tourist. The Thai government is promoting schemes that allow Japanese insurance companies to pay lower premiums if they promote Thailand. Why can’t something similar one by Thailand be done here in India?
Maharastra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi as well as West Bengal can move forward for the medical tourism. Considering that Indian-origin doctors are a common feature in hospitals across the world, foreigners won’t find it too difficult to accept India as a medical destination.
A British tourist who needed emergency operation while on vacation in India said exactly the same-: “There is every possibility an Indian will operate me there. So why not get operated by an Indian in India?”
I think the medical education expansion while maintaining its quality is a must that must be taken both in private and government sector. However, these private hospitals must take up some equally motivated programmes to cover the rural areas of the country. Some like Escort Heart centre are doing, but it is still a drop of water for ocean.
- Indra
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