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Medical tourism in India

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Medical tourism in India
Summary

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[[Apollo Hospitals]] in Chennai
[[Wockhardt]] towers HQ of Wockhardt hospitals
Fortis Hospital]] in [[Noida
[[Max Healthcare]] in [[Gurgaon

Medical tourism in India is a growing sector within the country's economy. In 2022, India's medical tourism sector was estimated to be worth US$9 billion. Approximately 2 million patients visit India each year from 78 countries for medical, wellness and IVF treatments, generating $6 billion for the industry which is expected to reach $13 billion by 2026 and is backed by the Indian government's Heal in India initiative. According to a report from 2019 by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Ernst & Young, most of the medical patients arrivals in India were from Southeast Asia, Middle East, Africa, and SAARC region. India also receives significant number of medical patients from Australia, Canada, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The city of Chennai has come to be known as the healthcare capital of India.

To encourage applications and ease the travel process for medical tourists, the India government has expanded its e-tourism visa regime in February 2019. The maximum duration of stay under this visa is 6 months. Since 30 August 2019, foreigners can receive any medical treatment in India with the exception of organ transplants without a medical visa.

In Aug 2023, the Government of India's Ministry of Home Affairs has announced the creation of the Ayush Visa category for foreign nationals at promoting travel healthcare in India and also and also tech-savvy companies are now stepping in to address this gap, offering online medical tourism in India.

Attractions

Advantages of medical treatment in India include reduced costs, the availability of latest medical technologies, and compliance on international quality standards, doctors trained in western countries including the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as English-speaking personnel, due to which foreigners are less likely to face language barriers in India.

Advantages

Cost

Hinduja National Hospital, Mumbai

Most estimates found that treatment costs in India start at around one-tenth of the price of comparable treatment in the United States or the United Kingdom. The most popular treatments sought in India by medical tourists are alternative medicine, bone-marrow transplant, cardiac bypass, eye surgery, and joint replacement.

Quality of care

India has 839 NABH accredited hospitals. However, for a patient traveling to India, it is important to find the optimal doctor-hospital combination. After the patient has been treated, the patient has the option of either recuperating in the hospital or at a paid accommodation nearby. Many hospitals also give the option of continuing the treatment through telemedicine. A 2024 meta-analysis evaluating India’s medical tourism sector highlighted variations in treatment success rates across different hospitals. The study found that while India excels in affordability and expertise, inconsistencies in postoperative care and patient follow-ups remain key concerns, emphasizing the need for standardized protocols.

The city of Chennai has been termed "India's health capital". Multi- and super-specialty hospitals across the city bring in an estimated 150 international patients every day. Chennai attracts about 45 percent of health tourists from abroad arriving in the country and 30 to 40 percent of domestic health tourists. Factors behind the tourists inflow in the city include low costs, little to no waiting period, and facilities offered at the specialty hospitals in the city. The city has an estimated 12,500 hospital beds, of which only half is used by the city's population with the rest being shared by patients from other states of the country and foreigners. Dental clinics have attracted dental care tourism to Chennai.

Private institutions and organizations such as Max Healthcare have consulted and treated up to 50,000 foreign patients in hospitals across the country.

The promotion of medical tourism in India has helped private players capitalize on this market opportunity.

According to Pankaj Chandna, Co-founder of Vaidam Health

According to Darpan Jain, Joint Secretary of the Indian government's Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry:

Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Vizag, Vijayawada, Chandigarh Capital Region (CCR), Delhi NCR including Gurugram and Faridabad, Jaipur, Kerala, Kolkata, and Mumbai are other Medical tourism hubs in India. Hisar Medicity is an upcoming hub, which was under planning and construction in 2021.

Ease of travel

The government has removed visa restrictions on tourist visas that required a two-month gap between consecutive visits for people from Gulf countries which is likely to boost medical tourism. A visa-on-arrival scheme for tourists from select countries has been instituted which allows foreign nationals to stay in India for 30 days for medical reasons. In 2016, citizens of Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Maldives, Republic of Korea and Nigeria availed the most medical visas.

Language

Despite India's diversity of languages, English is an official language and is widely spoken by most people and almost universally by medical professionals. In Noida, a number of hospitals have hired language translators to make patients from Balkan and African countries feel more comfortable while at the same time helping in the facilitation of their treatment.

A large number of medical tourism companies are facilitating foreigners, especially patients from Arabic, Russian and English-speaking countries.

Medical statistics

In November 2019, a report from The Economic Times stated that of all medical tourist arrivals in India, Maharashtra receives 27%, Chennai receives around 15%, and Kerala receives 5–7% of them.

References

References

  1. "India eyes to be a huge medical tourism hub in coming years". Times of India.
  2. (11 November 2022). "Medical Tourism in India: Top destinations, scenarios and all you need to know".
  3. Katz, Alexandra. (April 16, 2015). "India emerges as new destination for Russian medical tourists".
  4. (2019-02-15). "Centre liberalises e-Visa regime to make it more tourist friendly". The Economic Times.
  5. Mabiyan, Rashmi. (November 20, 2019). "Is India doing enough to carve a niche in medical tourism?". The Economic Times.
  6. (7 August 2023). "Explained: What is Ayush Visa that aims at promoting medical tourism in India".
  7. (2011-10-24). "Reason to smile". [[The Hindu]].
  8. [http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/004054B8-F475-4C40-872D-5E0D91D25B12.htm "Indian medical care goes global"], Aljazeera.Net, June 18, 2006 Nov 11, 2006
  9. Laurie Goering, [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-medical-tourism_goeringmar28,0,4555735.story "For big surgery, Delhi is dealing,"] The [[Chicago Tribune]], March 28, 2008
  10. (December 2024). "Health for All: Medical Tourism as a Resource". Journal of Medical Evidence.
  11. Hamid, Zubeda. (20 August 2012). "The medical capital's place in history". The Hindu.
  12. (27 August 2010). "Chennai High: City gets most foreign tourists". [[The Times of India]].
  13. (12 April 2012). "சென்னை இந்தியாவின் மருத்துவ தலைநகரா?". BBC.
  14. National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers. "Chennai – India's Health Capital". India Health Visit.
  15. Porecha, Maitri. (8 August 2012). "Long wait makes patients head south". DNAIndia.com.
  16. (16 July 2011). "Country's med capital to get 3,000 more beds". [[The Times of India]].
  17. Rajan, Manoj. (4 October 2011). "Foreigners flock to city for dental care". [[The Times of India]].
  18. Manveena Suri. (14 February 2019). "India wants to make medical tourism a $9 billion industry by 2020".
  19. (2022-07-18). "Start-ups are Disrupting the Medical Tourism Space. Here's How".
  20. (2020-05-16). "Medical tourism companies turn to telemedicine in wake of Covid-19".
  21. [https://www.amarujala.com/haryana/hisar/airport-3300-meters-runway-to-be-ready-by-may-2022-hisar-news-hsr6063738195 एयरपोर्ट: मई 2022 तक तैयार होगा 3300 मीटर का रनवे], Amar Ujala, 18 Jul 2021.
  22. (2012-12-05). "Easing of visa norms to boost medical tourism". [[The Times of India]].
  23. (2012-12-05). "Visa-on-arrival". immigrationindia.nic.in.
  24. (20 February 2017). "Medical tourism to keep pharma industry in good health: Study".
  25. (2013-01-24). "Medical translators to aid foreign patients". [[The Times of India]].
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This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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