Medical Tourism Booming in India - www.medodeal.com

Medical tourism or health tourism is the travel of people to another country for the purpose of obtaining medical treatment in that country. Traditionally, people would travel from less developed countries to major medical centers in highly developed countries for medical treatment that was unavailable in their own communities, The recent trend is for people to travel from developed countries to third world countries for medical treatments because of cost consideration, though the traditional pattern still continues. 

In the history, the first recorded instance of people travelling to obtain medical treatment dates back thousands of years to when Greek pilgrims traveled from all over the Mediterranean to the small territory in the Saronic Gulf called Epidauria. This territory was the sanctuary of the healing god Asklepios.

Spa towns and sanitariums may be considered an early form of medical tourism. In 18th century England, for example, patients visited spas because they were places with supposedly health-giving mineral waters, treating diseases from gout to liver disorders and bronchitis.

Process:

The typical process is as follows: the person seeking medical treatment abroad contacts a medical tourism provider. The provider usually requires the patient to provide a medical report, including the nature of ailment, local doctor’s opinion, medical history, and diagnosis, and may request additional information. Certified physicians or consultants then advise on the medical treatment. The approximate expenditure, choice of hospitals and tourist destinations, and duration of stay, etc., is discussed. After signing consent bonds and agreements, the patient is given recommendation letters for a medical visa, to be procured from the concerned embassy. The patient travels to the destination country, where the medical tourism provider assigns a case executive, who takes care of the patient's accommodation, treatment and any other form of care. Once the treatment is done, the patient can remain in the tourist destination or return home.

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In India:

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. 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.

Market size of the Indian medical tourism sector is likely to more than double to Rs 10,800 crore by 2015 from Rs 4,500 crore at present, industry, chamber Assocham today said in its study.

The inflow of medical tourists in India is also likely to cross 32 lakh by 2015 from the current level of 8.5 lakh, it said.

"Top notch healthcare facilities like cardiology, joint replacement, orthopedic surgery, transplants and urology at a low price are certain key factors making India a favoured destination in terms of medical tourism," the study said.

States like Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and New Delhi are fast emerging as India's best medical centres with several hospitals and specialty clinics coming up in the cities, it said.

India is also offering other medical services like yoga, meditation and ayurveda, which is increasingly becoming popular as a non-surgical treatment for various ailments among the foreign patients. The country attracts large number of medical tourists from the Middle East, America, Europe and also from neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

However, it said that the country is facing tough competition in the sector from nations like Australia, Belgium, Greece, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and Thailand that are actively promoting healthcare tourism worldwide.

"The proposal envisages setting up super-specialty hospitals in an eco-friendly atmosphere...with highly trained English-speaking healthcare professionals at affordable price," it added. Both central and state governments need to play key role in setting up these centres. 

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