India gears up for medical tourists

03 September 2004

Medical insurance is seen as the fastest growing segment in the Indian economy, says Supriya Saxena

A recent outcome of the privatisation of health services in India has been the growth of medical tourism to the extent that this sector is perceived as a fast-growing segment of the economy. India is a recent entrant into this industry and is expected to become a $2-billion business by 2012.

The driving force behind medical tourism is its cost effectiveness and the possibility of attracting substantial tourism revenue. Medical care, packaged with traditional therapies like yoga, meditation, ayurveda, allopathy, and other traditional systems of medicines, attract high-end tourists especially from European countries and the Middle East.

Kerala has pioneered health and medical tourism in India. But low- cost treatment is the ultimate factor weighing in favour of India. Medical care costs only one-fifth of the costs in the West. So if a particular surgery costs $30,000 in the West, it would cost only $6,000 in India.

India has gained acceptance in areas of medical care such as organ transplant, knee replacement, open-heart surgery and others because of the efforts of the corporate sector in the medical as well as tourism industry. The state-of-the-art equipment and well-qualified practitioners at these hospitals is what attract patients from other countries.

It is estimated that foreigners account for about 12 per cent of all patients in top hospitalsof Mumbai, like Lilavati, Jaslok, Breach Candy, Bombay Hospital, Hinduja Hospital, Apollo and Wockhardt.