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Need to scale or whiten your tooth, $ 300 is
what it will cost you in the US, come to India
and $75 is all you are charged. A smile designed
at $ 8000 could be one eighth the cost in India.
Forget, cosmetic surgery, a dialysis in the US
will shortchange you for $ 300 as against $50
for the same procedure in Chennai. Bone marrow
transplant, surgical oncology, cord blood transplants,
transplants of the heart, lung, liver are all
possible at lower costs in countries like Singapore,
Malaysia, Thailand and India than most developed
countries where health insurance continues to
shoot up in a heavily taxed public health-care
system.
A chance to visit India and the Far East while
healing and treating ailments at affordable costs
has led patients from the developed nations to
utilize health services in India at a fraction
of the costs in the West. Five to seven per cent
of Escorts' patients are understood to be from
abroad. Most patient traffic is from West Asia,
South East Asia and Africa. International health
insurance companies abroad are looking to forge
partnerships with renowned specialty hospitals
for Non Resident Indians (NRIs) to combine their
treatment in India with their annual family visits.
Most Indian states have either established themselves
as destinations for health care and tourism or
are building medical brand images. Add to this,
Yogic healing, Transcendental Meditation (TM)
along with alternate therapies of ayurveda in
India has been repackaged and redefined and goes
hand in hand with India's rise in 'Health Tourism
"also called Medical Tourism. Further, impetus
has come from corporate such as the Tatas, Fortis,
Max, Wockhardt, Piramal, and the Escorts group
who are investing in setting up of modern hospitals
in major cities. Many have in fact built health
packages designed for patients, including airport
pickups, visa assistance, boarding and lodging.
With advanced medical and biotechnological progress,
India along with Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand
are leaders in selling healthcare the world over.
With India's infrastructure and technology quite
at par with those in the USA, UK and Europe, also
boasts of some of the best hospitals and treatment
centers in the world. A favourite world getaway,
India as a health and tourism destination is here
to stay.
Whilst the likes of Deepak Chopra or a Mahesh
Yogi instilled spiritual healing in the West,
the stakes are much higher in India for professionally
managed hospitals groups like Apollo, Wockhardt,
Escorts et al reaping the benefits of dispensing
modern medicine and treatments. Add to this, the
opportunity to taste India's diverse culture,
its booming economy and a quick fix of medical
ailments at a cost one fifth, sometimes even one
tenth of that in the developed countries have
led patients the world over to descend upon India,
giving rise to medical tourism. Specialised treatment
and high safety standards along with personalised
after care continues to lure patients into India.
This is asserted in joint study by the Confederation
of Indian Industry (CII) and McKinsey which says
that at its current pace of growth, healthcare
tourism alone can rake over US$ 1.7 billion additional
revenues by 2012. Medical tourism is now a US$
299 million industry, as about 100,000 patients
come each year. The country needs to exploit the
cost advantage it can offer to a health tourist,
the study said. The biggest driver for healthcare
tourism is the disparity in costs, nearly one
fifth of the cost in the developed world. India
is definitely capitalizing on its low medical
costs and the expertise of its highly skilled
medical fraternity.
•A
heart surgery in the US costs US$ 30,000 as compared
to US$ 6,000 in India.
•A
bone marrow transplant in the US costs US$ 250,000
and US$ 26,000 in India.
"With yoga, meditation, ayurveda, allopathy,
and other systems of medicine, India offers a
unique basket of services to an individual that
is difficult to match by other countries,"
the CII study said. Clinical outcomes in India
are at par with the world's best centre since
India has internationally qualified and experienced
specialists.
The ease in international travel, the improvement
of technology and standards of care in many of
the Far Eastern countries and in India score a
point with patients in Britain or Canada who have
to rely on the heavily taxed public health-care
system for routine heart surgery, a hip resurfacing
or a hip replacement which sometimes take years
to be treated. Appointments for treatments are
quicker in India.
Lately, the Indian Government launched the six
month medical Visa in 2005. The Visa allows a
foreigner to stay for a year for medical treatment
in India. In addition, the Government has also
introduced policy measures such as the National
Health Policy which recognizes the treatment of
international patients as an export, allowing
private hospitals treating international patients
to enjoy the benefits of lower import duties,
an increase in the rate of depreciation (from
25 per cent to 40 per cent) for life-saving medical
equipment and several tax sops.
Efforts are also being made to launch campaigns
in the overseas markets that further project India
as the attractive medical tourism destination.
Specialised international and domestic healthcare
planers- cum- tour operators have cropped up to
prepare itineraries in lieu with private hospitals
in India. Expert medical opinions through tele
consultancy is also available.
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