Medical tourism in India rising by 27 per cent

Medical tourism in India rising by 27 per cent

Pune: Medical experts from the city have said that there is an increase in medical tourism in the country due to approximately 20 per cent lower treatment costs for major surgeries. 

Along with advanced medical facilities, medical tourists also prefer going for wellness packages to ensure preventive healthcare.

Speaking about what medical tourists are looking for, Dinesh Samudra, CEO of CliniVantage, a healthcare solution provider, said, “During 2013-16, the country’s medical tourism market witnessed a compounded annual growth rate of 27 per cent in the inflow of medical tourists.”

“India also attracts medical tourists from developing nations due to lack of advanced medical facilities in many of these countries. As of 2016, the medical tourism market in India is estimated to be around USD 3.9 billion and is expected to reach USD 8 billion by 2020,” said Samudra. He added that in 2012, yoga, meditation, ayurveda, allopathy and other traditional methods of treatment are the major service offerings that attracted medical tourists from the European nations and the Middle East to India. While talking about wellness healthcare, Samudra said it is also growing at a rapid scale. 

Sharing similar views, Niloufer Ebrahim, head of the department, Wellness Centre, at the Jehangir Hospital, said, “We have a large number of international patients coming to our hospital for consultations, surgeries, procedures and wellness health packages. 

“International patients come to our wellness centre for health checks year after year. Each time, they bring friends or relatives who also get their investigations done. Moreover, we give the whole package of reports for them to take back to their countries for further follow-up if needed. In the US and Canada, for example, patients don’t get hard or even soft copies. The results are only shared with the physician, who tells the outcomes verbally. But here, we have pre- and post-investigation consultations. They can walk away satisfied and with their reports in hand,” said Ebrahim.

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