Medical Tourism in India

Tummy tucks and a visit to the Taj Mahal is not unusual, what with the escalating medical costs the world over, patients are flocking Eastwards to countries like India, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The quality of medical services is often found better than some of the care centre in the United States and the UK. Many countries have now developed official partnerships for speedy treatments in India for their residents most of whom have to wait for extended periods of time to undergo operations. In India, medical treatment is not only fast but would also costs a fraction of what it would costs in USA or Europe.

So, scale or whiten your tooth at $ 300 in the US, or do so at $75 in India. A smile designed at US$ 8000 can be yours at one eighth the cost in India. Forget, cosmetic surgery, a dialysis in the US will shortchange you for $ 300 as against $50 for the same procedure in Chennai. Bone marrow transplant, surgical oncology, cord blood transplants, transplants of the heart, lung, liver are all possible at lower costs in countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and India than most developed countries where health insurance continues to shoot up in a heavily taxed public health-care system.



A chance to visit India and the Far East while healing and treating ailments at affordable costs has led patients from the developed nations to utilize health services in India at a fraction of the costs in the West. Five to seven per cent of Escorts' patients are understood to be from abroad. Most patient traffic is from West Asia, South East Asia and Africa. International health insurance companies abroad are looking to forge partnerships with renowned specialty hospitals for Non Resident Indians (NRIs) to combine their treatment in India with their annual family visits.

Most Indian states have either established themselves as destinations for health care and tourism or are building medical brand images. Add to this, Yogic healing, Transcendental Meditation (TM) along with alternate therapies of ayurveda in India has been repackaged and redefined and goes hand in hand with India’s rise in ‘Health Tourism “also called Medical Tourism. Further, impetus has come from corporate such as the Tatas, Fortis, Max, Wockhardt, Piramal, and the Escorts group who are investing in setting up of modern hospitals in major cities. Many have in fact built health packages designed for patients, including airport pickups, visa assistance, boarding and lodging. With advanced medical and biotechnological progress, India along with Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are leaders in selling healthcare the world over.

With India’s infrastructure and technology quite at par with those in the USA, UK and Europe, also boasts of some of the best hospitals and treatment centers in the world. A favourite world getaway, India as a health and tourism destination is here to stay.

A joint report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) -McKinsey study on Health tourism says that at its current pace of growth, healthcare tourism alone can rake over US$ 1.7 billion additional revenues by 2012. Medical tourism is now a US$ 299 million industry, as about 100,000 patients come each year.

The biggest driver for healthcare tourism is the disparity in costs, nearly one fifth of the cost in the developed world. India is definitely capitalizing on its low medical costs and the expertise of its highly skilled medical fraternity.

· A heart surgery in the US costs US$ 30,000 as compared to US$ 6,000 in India.

· A bone marrow transplant in the US costs US$ 250,000 and US$ 26,000 in India

Lately, the Indian Government launched the six month medical Visa in 2005. The Visa allows a foreigner to stay for a year for medical treatment in India. In addition, the Government has also introduced policy measures such as the National Health Policy which recognizes the treatment of international patients as an export, allowing private hospitals treating international patients to enjoy the benefits of lower import duties, an increase in the rate of depreciation (from 25 per cent to 40 per cent) for life-saving medical equipment and several tax sops.



The ease in international travel, the improvement of technology and standards of care in many of the Far Eastern countries and in India score a point with patients in Britain or Canada who have to rely on the heavily taxed public health-care system for routine heart surgery, a hip resurfacing or a hip replacement which sometimes take years to be treated.