India- A Hot Spot for Medical Tourism



I read an article/Slide show in Sify that states that Medical Tourism is likely to be the next major foreign exchange earner for India as an increasing number of patients, unwilling to accept long queues in Europe or high costs in the US, are travelling to the country to undergo surgery.Medical tourism is now a Rs 1330-crore industry with the number of overseas patients touching the 1-lakh mark in 2005..

Some stats and facts from the Sify Site:

-A study by McKinsey and Confederation of Indian Industry says that at its current pace of growth, healthcare tourism alone can rake over Rs 8,000 crore additional revenue by 2012

-The primary reason for the medical tourism gaining ground is the high quality of healthcare services being offered at competitive prices. India offers a wide range of specialised services at less than one-fifth of the cost in developed countries .
For eg:Instead of paying $2,00,000 for a mitral valve surgery in the US, a patient could travel to India and receive the same treatment for $6,700.Similarly, rather than paying 15,000 pounds Sterling for hip resurfacing in the UK, a patient can get the same procedure for 5,000 pounds in India, including surgery, airfare and hotel stay, the magazine says.

-States such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Rajasthan, New Delhi etc are already trying to cash in on the concept with most hospitals in these states tying up with a few counterparts in the UK, US and Gulf regions.

-Understanding the enormous profits that the sector can bring in for its Ayurveda medicine system, Kerala has already declared the year 2006-07 as `Year of Medical Tourism`.

-Most Indian corporate hospitals are on par, if not better than the best hospitals in Thailand and Singapore and there is scope for improvement which can see the country becoming a preferred medical destination soon, it says.