MEDICAL TOURISM

WHY IN NEWS:

• The government announced a plan to explore the possibilities of linking Indian hospitals, wellness centres and Ayurveda clinics with foreign insurance firms to boost medical tourism in the country

BACKGROUND:

• Medical tourism is defined as travel by an ill person to another country for medical care and well-being, rehabilitation & recuperation
• According to a report published by the Allied Market Research, the global medical tourism market accounted for $104.68 billion in 2019
• India currently has around 18% of the global medical tourism market
• Traditionally patients from neighbouring countries in SAARC region have always been coming to India and in 1980s patients from Middle East frequented hospitals in Mumbai, but the large inflow of patients from Africa and even the developed world like Europe, Canada, UK and USA has picked up only in the last decade.

STATISTICS:

• An assessment done by Indian Medical Travel Association (IMTA) has estimated that the patient arrival to India is presently growing at greater than 30% annually i.e. an estimated 4.5 lakh patients come to India every year for medical treatment.
• In India, the total number of inward medical tourists doubled in a span of just three years.
• Bangladesh accounts for the highest number of medical tourists. One in three foreign patients in Indian hospitals were from Bangladesh
• In 2017, around 22 per cent arrivals from West Asia was for medical purposes
• The leading destinations of medical tourism in the country are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, New Delhi, Kerala

POTENTIAL FOR INDIA:

• Human resource:
  • Highly skilled Indian physicians and surgeons and quality nursing care.
• Language:
  • India has the highest percentage of English language speaking people.
  • If other language options are essential, there are expert interpreters who will be arranged by the hospitals, all leading to reassuring hospitality and great after care.
• Low cost:
  • The cost of treatment is a fraction of the cost in the western countries
• High capacity:
  • Presence of world class hospitals with the latest technologies and top-of the-line medical and diagnostic equipment from global international conglomerates.
• Zero waiting time:
  • Zero waiting time in India for any procedure, be it heart surgery, kidney care, cancer treatment weight loss surgery etc.

BENEFITS FOR INDIA:

• Foreign Exchange Earnings:
  • According to Indian Medical Travel Association (IMTA), while an average holiday tourist may spend US $ 2000 on his trip to India – a medical tourist spends much higher at an average US $ 5000.
• Jobs:
  • Create a large number of new jobs in the healthcare sector.
• Boosting economy:
  • States like Andhra Pradesh are boosting their economy due to inflow of large number of tourists seeking medical help.
• Start Up India:
  • With many new Start Up's like Practo, Portea, Advancells, Lybrate etc. emerging in the field of health sector, Medical tourism can boost the number of start-ups in India.
• Improves health sector:
  • Medical tourism promotes technology and knowledge transfer, improved efficiency in patient care process
• Increases private investment in R&D:
  • Contributes to the development of innovative solutions to health care problems
• Increases India’s trade potential:
  • Medical tourism can built a brand image for India >> helps in improving international trade
• Improved international relations:
  • Medical tourism promotes increased people to people contact and social and cross cultural experience and international customer relations

CHALLENGES:

• Low coordination:
  • Low coordination between various players in the industry– airline operators, hotels and hospitals.
• Competitions:
  • Strong competitions from other developing destinations such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Mexico.
• Stringent surrogacy laws
  • This have deterred single parents and same sex couples from choosing India.
• Pricing:
  • Lack of uniform pricing policies across hospitals.
• Insurance:
  • Lack of insurance policies for this sector.
• Perception of international community:
  • Customer perception about India as an unhygienic country
• Low investments
  • India’s investment in health infrastructure stood minimal
• Influence of middle man:
  • Middle men with little or no knowledge and training to manage patient are playing havoc.

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES:

• India’s National Health Policy
  • It declares that treatment of foreign patients is legally an “export” and deemed “eligible for all fiscal incentives extended to export earnings”, thus acting as a stimulus.
• Benefits under Market Development Assistance Scheme (MDA):
  • Medical tourism service providers (including representatives of hospitals accredited by JCI and NABH, and medical tourism facilitators i.e. travel agents/tour operators), who are approved by the Ministry of Tourism, receive fiscal support under the Market Development Assistance Scheme (MDA)
• Separate category of visa:
  • In order to attract a large quantum of medical tourists, the government has introduced a separate category of medical visa: M-visa. A no-hindrance-clearance has been provided for medical tourists at the airports.
• E-tourist visas:
  • The scope of e-tourist visa has been expanded to include short- term medical treatment.
• Integrated approach:
  • The proposed policy to promote integrated treatment with allopathy, ayurveda, yoga, unani, siddha and homoeopathy (AYUSH) streams is expected to provide a fillip to the sector.
• Improving the quality of services:
  • For the accreditation of hospitals, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has set up a National Accreditation Board for Hospitals, under the Ministry of Commerce.
• E-governance support:
  • The Union commerce ministry’s portal “indiahealthcaretourism.com”, in three languages – Arabic, Russian and French— to provide comprehensive information to medical travellers.
• Tourism circuits:
  • The new government’s manifesto includes plans to build 50 tourism circuits, along with a medical circuit connecting hubs of modern medicine and Ayurveda.

WAY FORWARD:

• Marketing:
  • Need exists to undertake aggressive and focused overseas marketing to make the potential market aware of the unmatched cost and quality offered by Indian healthcare.
• Enhanced budgetary allocation for building medical infrastructure is the need of the hour.
• Robust visa regime:
  • Medical Visa Scheme and the immigration process which is cumbersome and inconvenient to patients coming to India for treatment, needs to be streamlined for this category of travellers.
• Accreditation:
  • To provide for brighter prospects for the industry, the hospitals can also acquire international accreditation, integrate traditional and clinical treatments and offer end-to-end value added services
• Formalisation:
  • Prepare a list of all our wellness centres and Ayush Hospitals so that we can properly publicise them.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Q. Examine the factors that have made India a popular hub of medical tourism? Also suggest measures to improve India’s potential in this sector?