Medical tourism likely to become India’s next big success story
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As the concept of medical tourism continues to gain momentum in India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, following a meeting with the Ministry of Tourism, has stated that a National Accreditation Health Board has to be set up for maintaining international standards in our medical facilities.“Medical tourism as an industry has begun to take concrete shape with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Tourism thrashing out the intricacies involved,” said an official statement. The intricacies discussed include price banding, hospital accreditation, quality control, categorization and selection of hospitals etc.
Minister of Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss said that the government has cleared medical visa and there is tremendous potential for tourism as well as for the health sector, with India specially being cheapest destination for medical care of highest standards. He also emphasized on modern diagnostics with Indian systems of medicinal care, which has been accepted as an effective system of healthcare worldwide.
Tourism Minister Renuka Chaudhary said that the initiative will be taken up on pilot basis to begin with. She said, India as a highly skilled destination in holistic health-care, has already been receiving tourists coming here for medical treatment, particularly for specialized care and typical problems.
Recently, it was decided that a Task Force on health tourism constituted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare would assess the opportunities for promoting India as a health destination, recommend action to be taken by the central and state governments and specially recommend about super specialty medical care, outsourcing of medical services to Indian IT based institutes and gainfully utilize the expertise available in traditional medicines.
The Task Force constituted in this regard in consultation with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) is in the process of formulating a policy for accreditation of hospitals both in modern system of medicines and Indian systems of medicine. The Ministry is also considering setting up of a National Accreditation Board for hospitals, which will not only specify various standards for hospitals but also act as a linkage with other National and International boards.
It was acknowledged that the medical tourism is likely to become the next big success story after software, adding the key competitive advantages of India in medical tourism stem from its comparative cost advantage, internationally renowned medical doctors and hospitals and the diversity of the tourists destination in the country. The Minister of Health and Family Welfare said that compared to Western countries, it is well documented that surgical procedures like heart bypass surgery or angioplasty come at a fraction of the cost in India with renowned quality doctors and the state of the art medical equipment. The tourists inflow for a wide medical service spectrum from wellness tourism to surgery and rehabilitation have made all interested stakeholders work towards the common goal of making India the preferred destination for medical tourism.
Dr. Ramadoss said that some measures like fast track clearance for medical patients at the airport are in the offing in coordination with other Ministries that would be of great help to foreign tourists coming to India for medical treatment. In this regard, the Minister also mentioned development of appropriate health packages for traditional therapies like yoga, meditation, ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine, which would not only attract high-end tourists from European and Middle east countries but also give a boost within the country.
As per the information available, the medical tourism industry in India is worth $333 million and as per latest estimation an additional revenue of $2.2 billion is expected by 2012, says a Centrum report on medical tourism in India.
Source: http://www.garamchai.com