India prepares plan to woo foreign medical tourists

The Government of India has chalked out an elaborate plan to woo medical tourists from abroad.

New Delhi Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 15 Jan 2016, 09:28 AM
Updated : 15 Jan 2016, 10:12 AM

India’s tourism ministry, in collaboration with the health and family welfare ministry, has decided to roll out the red carpet for medical tourists.
 
Foreigners seeking medical treatment in India will be given online medical visa approval, accreditation of hospitals and wellness institutions, and charged fixed sums for services.
 
“Our government will address problems faced by people (coming to India for medical and wellness purposes).
 
“We are going to propose trouble-free visa facilities to medical tourists...We have plans to engage with tour and travel operators and ensure that a transparent system of medical facilities is provided," said India’s Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma at the first meeting of the newly constituted National Medical and Wellness Tourism Promotion Board on Wednesday.
 
The minister is one of its members.
 
The Board feels an improved healthcare delivery system in the country is attracting foreigners looking for quality treatment at affordable prices.
 
“But a system needs to be devised to iron out the unevenness in the delivery system,” Sharma said.
 
The members of the Board felt the need for more accredited hospitals, an easy visa regime, and smooth linkages between service providers and the end user to promote and market India as a medical and wellness tourism hub.
 
The minister said that the promotion of this area of tourism would be taken up as a mission.
 
“The healthcare industry has grown at the rate of 25 percent in the last three years. If this potential in used in an organised manner, we will achieve a lot,” he said.
 
The ministry has also set up three sub-committees under the board, comprising medical and yoga experts and a cross section of people, to look into regulatory, accreditation, and marketing issues.
 
The ministry also plans to set up a dedicated web portal giving information about facilities and services offered by hospitals, health and yoga centres, spas, wellness institutes, and the costs involved.
 
A report published by India’s industry body FICCI expects the Indian medical market to hit $3.9 billion this year and the medical tourist inflow to cross 320 million.
 
Every year thousands of Bangladeshi patients come for specialised treatment in Indian hospitals, where charges are considerably lower for comparable services in some of the other regional markets such as Thailand and Singapore.