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The attraction of high quality healthcare facilities at competitive costs has been instrumental in a large number of foreign arrivals to access healthcare services in India.
The attraction of high quality healthcare facilities at competitive costs has been instrumental in a large number of foreign arrivals to access healthcare services in India. India is set to earn 1.87 billion U.S. dollars (Rs 8000 crore) a year in foreign exchange from medical tourism by 2012. According to a study made by the Delhi-based Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM), the earnings accrued through medical tourism annually is estimated to be Rs.3500 crore. The study on Prospects of Medical Tourism for Higher Forex Earning was done under the supervision of the health committee of Assocham, headed by Sir Ganga Ram Hospital chairman B.K. Rao. The primary reasons as to why medical tourism would flourish in India include much more lower medical costs for various ailments such as bone narrow transparent, bye-pass surgery, knee surgery and liver transplant as compared to western countries said Mr. Venugopal N. Dhoot, President ASSOCHAM Patients from economies of scale including Africa, Gulf and various Asian countries have started exploring medical treatment in hospitals located in various well-to do places in India because its medical infrastructure has geared up to provide them non-subsidized medical treatment at much more lower costs which are many times considered reasonable, adds Mr. Dhoot. India has emerged as a lead hub for excellent medical treatment because of its strength of highly qualified medical professionals and even equally higher qualities of availability of nurses. India has about seven lakh qualified doctors and numbers of qualified nursing graduates and diploma holders are equally good and of high professional caliber who are content and satisfied with reasonable professional feels. A comparison of treatment costs is given in the tabulated form, comparing India’s cost of medical treatment with countries such as USA, UK and Thailand : Comparison of Treatment cost ($) | Medical Treatment | USA | UK | THAILAND | INDIA | | Bone marrow transplant | More than 2,00,000 | Up to 2,00,000 | Up to 62,500 | Around 20,000 | | Bye – pass Surgery | 15,000- 20,000 | Around 20,000 | 14,250 | 4,000-6,000 | | Knee surgery | 16000-17000 | 15,000 | 7,000 | 1,000 | | Liver transplant | 300,000 | 2,50,000 | 750,000 | 4,000 |
Advantages Movement of patients from various developing and developed countries shift towards India because - - Hospital infrastructure is not only confined to large metros but also equally getting better in tertiary towns in which the cost of living is still lower with quality of supreme nature.
- Strength of traditional treatment such as homeopathy, naturopathy, ayurvedic, unani etc. are becoming popular because of their non-side effects
- The Indian healthcare policy is being adequately recognized from the policy makers as in India health spends in proportion to its GDP is about 1%, which the government is gradually trying to increase.
The prospects of medical tourism in India will be of super facilities and holds an excellent future. |
