India as Tourist Health Hub
India, tourists' health hub
India's potentials, experience, infrastructure in healthcare and high-tech medical performance have started attracting increasing number of foreigners on lookout for an affordable healthcare package, including super-specialty medical and surgical services. India's healthcare performance is expected to touch 6.2% to 8.5% of GDP by 2012. The medical tourism is expected to grow 15 to 20% per annum..
"Karnataka is the ideal health tourism destination with the best health facilities and tourist attractions," says Mahendra Jain, Tourism Commissioner of Karnataka.
Around 1.5 lakh medical tourists visited India last year. Their number is expected to double this year. According to McKinsey study, the medical tourism industry could grow by 30% through implementation of an effective action plan.
According to Radhakrishna Rao, our internationally recognised professionals, holistic medical services and low cost treatment can easily help India earn US $15 billion a year through medical tourism. Significantly, medical tourism to India marked a big boost after Dr Devi Prasad Shetty and his team at Bangalore based Naryana Hrudayalya, a super-specialty cardiac care centre closed a hole in the heart of a Pakistani girl in 2003. Since then, number of patients coming to India for the treatment and surgery of heart from neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal as well as from West Asia and Africa has been rising.
Irresistible Price-tag
Indian medicos and their reputation are spread the world over. This is helping patients of all nationalities to come to India. Here they find the price tag irresistible. The cost in the West is 5 to 6 times that of the Indian cost. In fact medical tourism involving both medicare and leisure in one package started from well-equipped Ayurvedic treatment centres in Kerala, offering both rejuvenative and curative therapies. These have been attracting Westerners suffering from a variety of degenerative diseases. Even some high-tech hospitals in West Europe are referring their patients to these Aurvedic centres. One such centre at Somatheeram on the outskirts of Thiruvanthapuram gets referrals from German hospitals. Soukya in Bangalore, a holistic healthcare centre with expertise in Ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy attracts number of patients from all over the world.
Kuki Gaelmann, a Kenya based environmentalist, who came to Soukya for rejuvenation therapy remarked, "Where else will I find such a place?" Many foreign tourists, after they are cured of their ailments with allopathic treatment go for Ayurvedic rejuvenation therapy. Efforts are on to promote an integrated healthcare package to lure increasing number of medical tourists to India.
In this regard, some leading names in the healthcare field of Bangalore, including the Naturopathy hospital of Jindal group are participating in this endeavour. The biggest attraction that India holds for those seeking timely and quality healthcare at affordable cost, is that unlike its Western counterparts, saddled with prohibitive costs and delays, India has the right mix of skills and value for money.
As an example, the angioplasty package offered by Apollo Hospital for $4000 includes airport pick-up and drop, in-house travel, related service, hotel stay for an attendant, one-day local sightseeing in an air-conditioned car, interpreter service whenever required and local transport, in addition to 3 days stay of the patient in the hospital.
Adding to India's allure as a low cost medical destination, is a group of super speciality hospitals like the Apollo group that has presence in every major Indian city, Escorts Heart Institute in Delhi and Jaslok and Hinduja hospitals in Mumbai. These hospitals are well equipped and offer the same level of care as anywhere else in the world. The Apollo group of hospitals so far have treated more than 10,000 international patients.
Apollo group is a network of 35 hospitals with 6500 beds. Kolkata's Apollo Gleneagle hospital is in contact with Hyatt Regency to offer a comprehensive medical-cum-tourism package to foreign patients. Leading travel company, Thomas Cook has a well-known surgeon Padam Sanghvi as its medical tourism project advisor. It is wrapping up a deal with leading chain of hospitals in India. Cox and Kings have tied up with Vedic India and Omkar Trust, two leading medical bodies that promote medical tourism in India. Jaslok hospital has an informal tie-up with Air India and Taj Group of hotels. Manipal hospital in Bangalore has dedicated an entire floor for treatment of foreigners.
Gope Lalla
India's potentials, experience, infrastructure in healthcare and high-tech medical performance have started attracting increasing number of foreigners on lookout for an affordable healthcare package, including super-specialty medical and surgical services. India's healthcare performance is expected to touch 6.2% to 8.5% of GDP by 2012. The medical tourism is expected to grow 15 to 20% per annum..
"Karnataka is the ideal health tourism destination with the best health facilities and tourist attractions," says Mahendra Jain, Tourism Commissioner of Karnataka.
Around 1.5 lakh medical tourists visited India last year. Their number is expected to double this year. According to McKinsey study, the medical tourism industry could grow by 30% through implementation of an effective action plan.
According to Radhakrishna Rao, our internationally recognised professionals, holistic medical services and low cost treatment can easily help India earn US $15 billion a year through medical tourism. Significantly, medical tourism to India marked a big boost after Dr Devi Prasad Shetty and his team at Bangalore based Naryana Hrudayalya, a super-specialty cardiac care centre closed a hole in the heart of a Pakistani girl in 2003. Since then, number of patients coming to India for the treatment and surgery of heart from neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal as well as from West Asia and Africa has been rising.
Irresistible Price-tag
Indian medicos and their reputation are spread the world over. This is helping patients of all nationalities to come to India. Here they find the price tag irresistible. The cost in the West is 5 to 6 times that of the Indian cost. In fact medical tourism involving both medicare and leisure in one package started from well-equipped Ayurvedic treatment centres in Kerala, offering both rejuvenative and curative therapies. These have been attracting Westerners suffering from a variety of degenerative diseases. Even some high-tech hospitals in West Europe are referring their patients to these Aurvedic centres. One such centre at Somatheeram on the outskirts of Thiruvanthapuram gets referrals from German hospitals. Soukya in Bangalore, a holistic healthcare centre with expertise in Ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy attracts number of patients from all over the world.
Kuki Gaelmann, a Kenya based environmentalist, who came to Soukya for rejuvenation therapy remarked, "Where else will I find such a place?" Many foreign tourists, after they are cured of their ailments with allopathic treatment go for Ayurvedic rejuvenation therapy. Efforts are on to promote an integrated healthcare package to lure increasing number of medical tourists to India.
In this regard, some leading names in the healthcare field of Bangalore, including the Naturopathy hospital of Jindal group are participating in this endeavour. The biggest attraction that India holds for those seeking timely and quality healthcare at affordable cost, is that unlike its Western counterparts, saddled with prohibitive costs and delays, India has the right mix of skills and value for money.
As an example, the angioplasty package offered by Apollo Hospital for $4000 includes airport pick-up and drop, in-house travel, related service, hotel stay for an attendant, one-day local sightseeing in an air-conditioned car, interpreter service whenever required and local transport, in addition to 3 days stay of the patient in the hospital.
Adding to India's allure as a low cost medical destination, is a group of super speciality hospitals like the Apollo group that has presence in every major Indian city, Escorts Heart Institute in Delhi and Jaslok and Hinduja hospitals in Mumbai. These hospitals are well equipped and offer the same level of care as anywhere else in the world. The Apollo group of hospitals so far have treated more than 10,000 international patients.
Apollo group is a network of 35 hospitals with 6500 beds. Kolkata's Apollo Gleneagle hospital is in contact with Hyatt Regency to offer a comprehensive medical-cum-tourism package to foreign patients. Leading travel company, Thomas Cook has a well-known surgeon Padam Sanghvi as its medical tourism project advisor. It is wrapping up a deal with leading chain of hospitals in India. Cox and Kings have tied up with Vedic India and Omkar Trust, two leading medical bodies that promote medical tourism in India. Jaslok hospital has an informal tie-up with Air India and Taj Group of hotels. Manipal hospital in Bangalore has dedicated an entire floor for treatment of foreigners.
Gope Lalla
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