The medical tourism sector is growing rapidly in India. India's Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry conducted a poll in 2019 and found that most medical tourists came from the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. India also receives a substantial range of medical tourists from Australia, Canada, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The center for medical travel in Gurgaon, then Chennai, is India's healthcare capital.
The Ministry of Tourism has announced new projects, one of which is the development of medical tourism. The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, administers the Marketing Development Assistance Scheme (MDA), which offers financial help to authorized tour operators.
Indian health tourism's scope and current state
There is a lot of promise in health tourism. The medical systems practiced in India, including Ayurveda, Rejuvenation Therapy, Panchakarma, Yoga, etc., are some of the oldest in the world. As a result, India can offer affordable medical and health care that meets international standards. Kerala, one of the southern Indian states, has established health tourism as one of its products to promote travel there. One of the State's USPs has been marketed as health tourism. Ayurveda Centers are becoming a common feature in new hotels and resorts. The majority of international visitors now solely travel to India for Ayurveda. The top medical tourism companies in India have Ayurveda in their brochures.
Encouraging global health tourism
If Health and Medical Tourism get the proper attention, its rise in India might be considerably more significant. The following are some of India's primary advantages:
● First, it has prestigious medical facilities and doctors.
● Second, the treatment's price is far less than what it would be in the source markets.
● Third, for several medical procedures, there is no waiting period.
● With the rising number of western tourists visiting India; Eastern healthcare knowledge combined with Western medical knowledge
Advantages
Cost Efficiency
According to most estimates, the starting cost of treatment in India is roughly one-tenth of the cost of equivalent treatment in the United States or the United Kingdom. As a result, bone marrow transplant, alternative medicine, eye surgery, cardiac bypass and hip replacement are the most often requested procedures in India by medical tourists. As a result, medical tourism companies in India have been providing low-cost treatments with very little compromise in quality.
Quality
Thirty-nine hospitals in India have JCI accreditation. Finding the ideal doctor-hospital combo is crucial for a patient going to India. Many hospitals provide telemedicine to continue treatment.
"India's health capital" has been referred to as Chennai. An estimated 150 foreign patients arrive each day at multi- and super-specialty hospitals located around the city. Between 30 and 40 percent of local health tourists and 45 percent of foreign health tourists visit the nation in Chennai. Low prices, little to no waiting time, and amenities provided by the city's specialty hospitals contribute to the city's high visitor influx. Only half of the city's estimated 12,500 hospital beds are used by residents; the remaining half is split between patients from other states and foreign visitors. Chennai has seen an increase in dental tourism due to its dental facilities.
Travel is simple
The government has eliminated the requirement that visitors from Gulf nations wait two months between visits, which is likely to increase medical tourism.
For tourists from a few countries, a visa-on-arrival program is implemented, allowing visitors to stay in India for 30 days for medical purposes. The countries with the highest medical visa requests in 2016 were Bangladesh, Afghanistan, the Maldives, the Republic of Korea, and Nigeria.
Language
The majority of people in India speak English, which is the country's official language. Medical professionals also almost universally speak English. Many hospitals in Noida have employed language interpreters to enable patients from the Balkans and Africa to feel more at ease while also facilitating their medical care.
Ministry of Tourism initiatives to boost medical tourism in India
The Ministry of Tourism has done the following actions to promote India as a destination for medical and health tourism:
● With the government's guidance, the Indian Healthcare Federation, a non-profit organization associated with the Confederation of Indian Industry, has created a guide on specific Indian hospitals across the nation for "health tourism" purposes. For further exposure, it has been posted on the Ministry of Tourism's website, www.incredibleindia.org.
● The Ministry of Tourism has created brochures, CDs, and other promotional material to encourage medical and health tourism, and these items have been widely distributed for exposure in target areas.
● At numerous international venues, like World Travel Mart in London and ITP Berlin, medical and health tourism have been primarily marketed.
● There is now a new kind of "Medical Visa" that can be granted to foreign visitors going to India for a specific purpose.
● All State Governments have received a copy of the accreditation standards for Ayurvedic and Panchkarma centers for implementation. For more exposure, these have been posted on the Ministry of Tourism website, www.incredibleindia.org.
● Under the Ministry of Tourism's "Incredible India Campaign," yoga, Ayurveda, and wellness have been heavily promoted over the past two years in print, electronic, online, and outdoor media. The Ministry of Tourism has also produced and widely disseminated brochures and CDs on body, mind, and soul that cover the traditional system of medicine.
Agencies supporting global health tourism
Besides the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Tourism, other organizations are also supporting the growth of health tourism in the country.
An autonomous, non-statutory organization called the Indian Healthcare Federation brings together pharmaceutical, medical equipment, and non-government hospitals and diagnostic facilities. The Federation's primary goal is to support and advance the nation's healthcare business. It aims to serve as a conduit for communication between the government, healthcare providers, suppliers of medical equipment, and other healthcare organizations. It works in close collaboration with the CH National Committee on Healthcare and is a member of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CH).
Conclusion
Medical tourism in India is flourishing. Consequently, foreigners are visiting the country to avail of its medical services in large numbers. The government, as well as the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Tourism, is constantly working towards the growth and encouragement of medical tourism in India.
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