India is the Emerging Global
Health Destination

chillibreeze writer — Aazeen F. Kirmani.

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India and the medical tourism industry

At the dawn of the 21st century, the crimson rays are smiling happily on India. The new millennium has many economic opportunities for us, one of them being medical tourism. For the uninitiated medical tourism refers to a tourist visiting another country with the dual purpose of getting medical treatment, which is more affordable in the other country and enjoying a vacation as well.

India with advanced medical services paired with her exotic natural bounties has become a heaven for medical tourists. For us, the statistics show hope for an annual income of up to 1 billion dollars and 40 million job opportunities from this avenue.

A question that pops up: What does a medical tourist want? The panorama of medical requirements that India can cater to is very vast starting from purely cosmetic treatments like cosmetic surgeries such as breast augmentation to urgent and critical procedures like joint replacement, heart surgery etc.

So what makes India one of the medical tourism destinations?

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Primarily, it is the low cost of treatment and medicines in India. There is no compromise on the quality of medical services, which can confidently compete, with that of even the most developed nations. India has achieved universally acclaimed standards in complex and significant procedures such as cosmetic surgery, dentistry, joint care and heart surgery. And all this at 1/10th of the price compared to developed nations.

A bone marrow transplant procedure that takes $250,000 in the U.S. can be performed at $25,000 in India. A heart surgery that costs 50,000 $ in USA can be availed of at 10,000$ in hospitals with the most advanced facilities. A regular medical check up, blood tests, X-rays and ultrasounds, which make one poorer by 574$ in London rounds is available at 84$ in most Indian diagnostic centers.

More over the overhead costs like traveling, lodging, sightseeing, food and shopping are very affordable in India. The situation is further complimented by favorable currency exchange rates for medical tourists and India’s reputation for hospitality.

A well-repeated argument posed against the concept of medical tourism in India is that in the world community, India is not traditionally regarded as a health conscious country. The stagnating drains and open latrines convey a rather dismal message about our health care system. Moreover, not everyone can have fun in the backwaters of Kerala after a major cardiac surgery or relax on the beaches of Goa after a hip replacement.

Nevertheless, the statistics vote for India and the practical experiences vouch for Indian medical services. No argument can deny the 95000 international patients treated at the Apollo group of hospitals. With a 30%, annual growth in India’s health industry India is certainly all set to become a ‘global health destination’.

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—About our writer: Aazeen says, "I am from Lucknow I love to write, specially short stories. My favourites authors are Attia Hussein, Jhumpa Lahari and Mulk Raj Anand. I want to be remembered as one of them when I am gone- though hope its still a long time and I am just 19."

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