At a time when the Indian Government is taking measures to address issues that hinder the country’s growth in medical tourism, there are some doctors who are taking initiative to promote country’s medical standards.
To achieve this goal, a two-day International India Medical Tourism Congress began in Delhi on Saturday in which more than 200 delegates from India, Africa, Iran, Dubai, Turkey and Jordan participated. The medical tourism congress was inaugurated by Tourism Secretary Dr lalit K Panwar.
While addressing the gathering, Specialist International Tourism and Health, Dr Prem said, this discussion is aimed at bringing medical tourism stakeholders together, creating awareness about medical tourism and create international network opportunities.
Another speaker, Dr Anil P Bankar, who is PhD in medical tourism, said that medical tourism attracts people, brings in money and improves medical standards but the absence of a common platform, poor marketing strategies and absence of public private partnership create hindrances in the growth of medical tourism sector in India.
While talking to The Pioneer, a delegate from london, Dr Dara Filipof informed, the foreign citizens prefer India for treatment because of the availability of cheap medical facilities in the country.
“Sometimes, the patients are not satisfied by the allopathic treatment. So, they come to India to get treated by Ayurveda and at the same time enjoy the hospitality of the people here,” she added.
Gastroenterology specialist Dr Naresh Agarwal said that medical tourism is a growing sector in India because of the availability of all the medical facilities at cheap rates, higher technological system and the fact, that foreigners are less likely to face a language barrier in India.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Government has started a visa-on-arrival scheme for tourists from select countries that allow foreign nationals to stay in India for 30 days for medical reasons. At the same time, a number of hospitals have hired language translators to make patients from Balkan and African countries feel more comfortable in India.