Category Archives: Medical Tourism/Health Tourism

Manama, Bahrain :

India can be a major health tourism destination for Bahraini and GCC nationals and residents, leading medical industry professionals have said.

Those seeking treatment abroad due to the lack of inexpensive specialist services here can now look to India for excellent medical care.

According to Indian Medical Association (IMA) Bahrain Chapter president Dr Babu Ramachandran, the shift in destination from countries like the UK, Germany and the US to India is mainly being driven by cost considerations and comparable quality of service.

India, Dr Ramachandran told the GDN, has a highly skilled workforce, world-class locally manufactured drugs, implants, consumables and medical equipment as well as accredited hospitals with world-class infrastructure and research facilities.

“It is an opportunity we would like to highlight during the Bahrain-India Conference and Exhibition next week,” Dr Ramachandran said.

Some the biggest private healthcare providers in India will be represented by the IMA at the first-ever such event, themed ‘Bahrain-India Economic Partnership: Springboard to Access Wider Markets’.

“Delegates from India will explore potential opportunities in the region, which would mainly target medical tourism,” he said.

“We know that many Indian providers are endeavouring to open healthcare facilities in the region to obviate need to travel to India.”

The premier India-focused, trade and industry event is being held from October 22 to 24, at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre.

As part of the conference, a seminar titled ‘Bilateral opportunities in the healthcare sector” will also be held under the patronage of Health Minister Sadiq Al Shehabi.

Echoing the view expressed by Dr Ramachandran, Reinsurance Group of America regional director for health Dr Dennis Sebastian, who will also participate in the exhibition, said Bahrain had limited tertiary care facilities, most of which were in the public sector with expatriates restricted in accessing them.

“India has a number of centres of excellence providing high-quality tertiary and secondary care facilities, specially in treatment of cancer, heart diseases and for cosmetic and orthopaedic purposes.

“Considering that this area is progressing towards compulsory medical insurance, there are various collaborations and ventures that can be explored,” he said.

According to a McKinsey & Company report, the GCC countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE – will face an unparalleled and unprecedented rise in demand for healthcare over the course of the next decade.

The company estimates that total healthcare spending in the region will reach $60 billion in 2025.

source: http://www.gulf-daily-news.com / Gulf Daily News / Home> Business News / by Avinash Saxena   avinash@gdn.com.bh  / Thursday – October 17th, 2013

Two top Indian hitech hospitals have sealed a deal to set up collaborative medical services in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said to be one of its kind. The new deal will turn the First Rivers Hospital Limited (FRHL) into a world-class medical tourist centre in Africa.

The Nigerian hospital signed two different agreements in the city of Pune, India, with Ruby Hall Clinic and Trans-medical Healthcare Limited. The agreements were facilitated by Reneva International Ltd, a management and training consultancy firm based in Port Harcourt.

A statement confirming the agreement which was made available to newsmen in Port Harcourt said the renowned hospital in the garden city, FRHL, achieved this feat in its quest to bring hitech medical solution to the needy in Nigeria.

By this agreement, medical cases can be properly examined and successfully managed in Nigeria without the extra burden of overseas travels while only complicated surgeries can be directed to Ruby Hall Clinics for specialist care requirements which of course will minimise the cost of medical care to patients and their families.

Details indicated that “the parties in these agreements agreed to upgrade the facilities and healthcare services at First Rivers Hospital to a world class level with the latest technologies in X-rays, sonography, CT scan/MRI, cathlab, dialysis centre, diagnostic laboratory, video conferencing suite, etc. as well as providing online/real time and direct access to specialist consultants’ expertise at Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune, India”.

Ruby Hall Clinic is indicated as the award-winning hospital for the best medical tourism facility in India in 2012, awarded by the Ministry of Tourism Government of India. “It is India’s most preferred medical destination with internationally renowned healthcare facility and integrated world class healthcare services that blend the 21st century state-of-the-art technology with an upscale luxury environment”.

Ruby Hall is said to have over 700 beds and 150 intensive care beds, over 3,000 staff (including 300 specialist/super consultants, 750 panel doctors and 1500 paramedical staff), 12 diagnostic centres, 4 cathlabs, 20 operation theatres, 2 linear accelerators, PET CT scanner, 3 tesla MRI scanner with broadband facility, 14 MRI machines and 6 CT scanners.

Ruby Hall Clinic is able to provide superior and diverse medical services to patients from anywhere in the world under one roof at affordable costs.

The clinic has one of the largest cardiac centres and cancer units in India with over 150,000 coronary angiographies, 80,000 angioplasties and 70,000 bypass surgeries to date. It is widely recognised as a one stop shop for cancer detection and treatment. Ruby Hall Clinic also has the most advanced centre for bone marrow and stem cell transplant in India. The dialysis unit has 20 modern hemodialysis machines performing over 15,000 dialysis sessions per year.

Sola Olanrewaju, medical director, First Rivers Hospital, said it had been his long standing vision to provide the best healthcare services to the citizenry for some time.

source: http://www.businessdayonline.com / Business Day / Home> Health Business & Living / by Ignatius Chukwu / July 23rd, 2013