Closeup view of doctor using tablet computer / Representational image (PHOTO: Getty Images)
On World Health Day (WHD) 2016, rather than looking at our oft-dismal maternal and infant mortality rates; at the grim onward march of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis across even our metros; at the sorry state of many of our government-run medical facilities nationwide; or even at the WHD 2016’s focus on its disease of choice (diabetes, this year)—it is perhaps fitting to recall that India is a much sought-after medical and wellness tourism destination.
The most obvious drivers are low costs—US-based website www.health-tourism.com cites India as providing services at 20 per cent of the US cost and adds that India is a “choice destination for orthopedic and cardiovascular cases due to the high quality of healthcare, and a significant number of US accredited hospitals and physicians” —and the lack of such facilities in one’s home country.
Ahmed Alawi of Yemen, a young 28-year old was severely wounded in the leg in a gunfight and was brought to India after treatment there failed to restore him to his feet. His is one among the many cases profiled on www//indiahealthcaretourism.com—a Government of India site.
Nevertheless, it is clear that this billion dollar industry is private sector- and not public sector-driven. An in-depth multi-authored study, brought by Cambridge University Press in 2014 as a book (India’s Healthcare Industry: Innovation in Delivery, Financing and Manufacturing; ed. Lawton Robert Burns), attributes ‘India’s success to private sector effort more than any central government policy effort.”
The authors cite Apollo, Fortis, Max Healthcare, and Manipal as they ‘provide quality healthcare and technology.’ Of these, leading this group was ‘Apollo [which] claimed 60,000 inpatients and outpatients generating $63 million in 2011.’ They note that, ‘the private chains have developed infrastructure in other countries to refer patients to their Indian hospitals’. Other strengths the authors point out are the medical staff’s familiarity with English and ‘providers’ familiarity with western healthcare (by virtue of having trained abroad).’
With the Government having created a special category of Visa—the Medical Visa—to facilitate the inflow of medical tourists, it’s a win-win scenario as the national exchequer gains valuable foreign exchange even if foreign patients do steer clear of Government-run hospitals
A CII–Grant Thornton report (released in October 2015) estimates the Indian medical tourism market will grow to US$ 7–8 billion by 2020; and a PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI)–RNCOS pitched the Indian medical tourism industry’s growth in value terms at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20 per cent between 2014–18.
source: http://www.thestatesman.com / The Statesman / Home> News Delhi / April 07th, 2016
