The medical tourism sector is booming globally and India is ranked 10th among 46 countries in the Medical Tourism Index 2021
With escalating medical expenses, people are scampering to book doctor’s appointments far away from their homes. A large number of patients travel from nations lacking healthcare infrastructure or less advanced in medical facilities to countries providing highly-specialised healthcare facilities.
The medical tourism sector is booming globally and India is ranked 10th among 46 countries in the Medical Tourism Index 2021. As per Tourism Ministry statistics, India received just over 1.82 lakh medical tourists in 2020, which contributed 6.7 per cent to the overall tourism inflow into the country.
India so far has attracted medical tourists from smaller nations lacking proper healthcare facilities back home, like Maldives, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kenya, Oman, or NRIs from developed countries who come for affordable medical treatment, only to go back when they get well.
India offers a variety of healthcare services including Medical Treatment & Surgeries to cure chronic ailments, physical appearance enhancements like cosmetic surgery, Fitness & Rejuvenation for mental & physical relaxation or mindfulness, and Alternative Medicine Treatment to seek AYUSH.
India has immense potential to offer healthcare as per international standards, and at a fraction of the cost. Some of the key medical advantages that India brings is the skilled and qualified healthcare manpower, state-of-the-art Tier 1 hospitals equipped with the latest technologies, quality nursing care & post-operative facilities, high-end diagnostic services and top-quality yet affordable medicines (compared to developed nations). There is, therefore, no doubt that the medical tourism market in India is estimated to grow to USD 13.42 billion by 2026.
However, to achieve this milestone, it is important to remove the disparity in urban and rural healthcare infrastructure. All the facilities mentioned above are available in Tier 1 cities only while the rural folks grapple with the most basic requirement of access to a good, qualified doctor. This restricts the options available to tourists seeking quality medical treatment in India and are made to choose cities like Mumbai & Delhi having a higher cost of living.
Further, it also discourages regular tourists from visiting Tier 2 or below cities in India, if they don’t have good healthcare facilities close by, especially in case of senior citizens & family travel.
The Government recognizes this struggle and is working to give wings to its National Digital Healthcare Mission (NDHM) to provide the much needed technology push to public healthcare by digitising health records for easy access by end users.
I also suggest this data being made available for restricted use for R&D and clinical research purposes only, to devise more accurate treatments for common & serious ailments, thus giving India the edge in diagnostic sciences.
Further, the Government is looking to increase JCI (Junior Chamber International) accredited hospitals in various cities from the current 38 hospitals. A coalition of over 100 private healthcare specialists have formed a first-of-its-kind, made in India telemedicine application called Swasth that aims to deliver equitable and affordable healthcare to all Indians. Further, the Ministry of Ayush and Council of Scientific & Industrial Research completed a multi-center clinical trial of a medicine, AYUSH 64, for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 infections and not to mention Covaxin, our very own indigenously developed COVID Vaccine through PPP, by Bharat Biotech.
All these factors are positive developments towards making healthcare infrastructure a driving factor for tourism in India. In fact, we must learn from our friendly neighbour, the UAE, which is fast becoming a tourism hub for international patients seeking customised and affordable treatment.
I feel India is already grabbing attention from global tourists looking for quality, affordable & holistic healthcare by correcting the regional disparity in healthcare infrastructure.
The writer is CEO, vHealth by Aetna