People And Their Problems

New Delhi, 26 May 2007

Need For 20-Year Vision

INDIA’S POTENTIAL FOR MEDICAL TOURISM

By Radhakrishna Rao

About a couple of decades back, affluent Indians suffering from a variety of afflictions going for high-end medical treatment in the corporate and elite hospitals of North America and West Europe  was quite common. However, with the massive and rapid upgradation of the Indian-healthcare infrastructure over the last one decade, patients from across the world, including the USA and the UK, find the medicare facilities in India not only of high quality but also quite inexpensive in comparison to the facilities available in their countries. No wonder then that a recent projection points out that medical tourism in India could well become a Rs.7,000 crore enterprise by 2012.

As pointed out by Dr.Naresh Trehan, a renowned Cardiac surgeon: “Life saving healthcare is just one of the many comparative advantages India has. Today the entire SAARC region, Afghanistan and CIS countries look at India as a destination for cardiology, orthopedics, cosmetic surgery, eye care and dentistry.” It has been estimated that about one-fourth of the patients in the leading corporate hospitals of India are from abroad.

”Foreign patients are very particular about the ambience and environment of the hospital. They expect a different type of service” observes Dr.Devi Shetty, the founder of the Bangalore-based super-speciality heartcare hospital, Narayana Hrudyalaya. Interestingly, this hospital has become a favourite of many heart patients of Pakistani origin. Shetty believes that in years ahead a lot more patients from the USA and Europe would come to Bangalore, specifically for high quality treatment at a very affordable cost. Interestingly, Naryana Hrudaylalya has so far treated close to 400 Pakistanis suffering from cardiac complications.

In order to turn Bangalore, known for its IT enterprise and high-tech industry, into a favourite hub of medical tourism, the Health and Family Welfare Department of the State plans to promote the concept of “health clubs” that cater specifically to foreign patients. According to sources in the Karnataka Government, the major attraction which Bangalore holds in so far as the  medical tourism is concerned is  the reputation it has already built up for low cost medical treatment, expertise and infrastructure which are of international standards. As an analyst of the Indian healthcare industry puts it, medical tourism has become a veritable talisman attracting big money from the industry. That Reliance and Tatas have their own plans to enter the medical tourism sector holds the mirror to the tremendous potentials of the sector.

Vishal Bali, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Wockhardt, a leading name in India’s high quality healthcare sector, is clear in his perception that India should be ready and  prepared to take up the challenges involved in medical tourism. Bali, a staunch votary of medical tourism, drives home the point that the presence of more than 60 million  with no insurance cover in the US, overburdened National Health Service in the United Kingdom and an increasingly graying population in the West at the opportunities that the Indian medicare industry easily exploit to sustain the growth  of the medical tourism.

On his part, Bali is of view that if India can attract patients from the USA and the UK, it could attract patients from any part of the world without any problem. By all means, the trump card of the medical tourism in the Indian context is low cost and high quality of treatment.

Rightly and appropriately, Trehan sees the possibility of Indian health insurance companies taking a plunge into medical tourism sector in a big way. “Very soon, you will see insurers offering policies to overseas citizens that would help them take advantage of the medical treatment in India”, quips Trehan. Interestingly, a  recent, fact filled study carried out  by Federation of  Indian Chamber of  Commerce and Industry in association with Ernst and Young says, “a cardiac procedure costs anywhere between US$ 40,000-60,000 in the USA, US$ 30,000 in Singapore. But in India it costs just US$3000-6000”.

Another advantage enjoyed by the Indian healthcare industry is the rapid expansion of the satellite-based telemedicine network introduced by the Indian Space Research Organisation. Telemedicine network enables remote diagnosis and treatment. For instance, Narayana Hrudayalaya operates a telemedicine network that makes it possible smooth monitoring of the conditions of the patients spread across many countries around the world.

A study by the Healthcare Services Division of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Indian hospitals and medicare centres are now mainly frequented by patients from South Asian countries, West Asia, the United Kingdom, East Africa and Uzbekistan. And  in recent months patients from New Zeland and Australia have been finding India an ideal destination for getting treated at a very affordable cost. And as envisaged now, medical tourism which is expected to grow at the rate of 20 per cent per annum, could very well become a major foreign exchange earner for India.

Though at the moment, India lags behind Thailand, Singapore and Israel in terms of general  infrastructure and the number of health tourists, with some find tuning, improved coordination and better image building, India would well emerge as one of the most preferred destinations of medical tourism in the economically booming Asia Pacific region.

“Popular healthcare tourism destinations such as Thailand and Singapore, first promoted their tourism potential and then healthcare tourism. India is doing both simultaneously which would take sometime to work”, says Sajal Dutta, President of Association of Hospitals of Eastern India (AHEI). 

On another front, the ancient Indian medicare system of ayurveda too is becoming a major component of medical tourism in India. In fact, much before the concept of medical tourism took off, a large number of westerns keen on getting rejuvenation therapies based on ayurvedic principles used to visit one of the many ayurvedic resorts dotting the evergreen State of Kerala.

Indeed as observed by Dr.Issac Mathai, Chairman of Saukya, a holistic healthcare centre focusing on yoga and ayurveda, “We need a bigger vision for the next 15-20 years rather than focussing on current issues. It could be an integrated facility, ranging from super-speciality to yoga, research and even IT (Information Technology) and BT (Biotechnology) research related to medicare”.---INFA

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