INTRODUCTION:

Tourism is well known term, meant to explore new areas, enjoy leisure time at peace. However, since few years a new term as ‘medical tourism’ is catching everybody’s attention. Medical tourism can be defined as “medical tourism or medical travel, is the act of travelling to other countries to obtain medical, dental and surgical care at ease and with affordability of traveller’s choice.” The term was initially coined by travel agencies and the media as catch all phrase to describe a rapidly growing industry, where people travel to other countries to receive medical care.

It is anticipated that Medical tourism in India will grow from its current size of $3 billion to $ 7-8 billion by 2020,” figures stated by India’s Economic Times.

The National Health Policy, 2002, makes it clear that government policy supports medical tourism: “To capitalize on the comparative cost advantage enjoyed by domestic health facilities in the secondary and tertiary sector, the policy will encourage the supply of services to patients of foreign origin on payment. The rendering of such services on payment in foreign exchange will be treated as ‘deemed exports’ and will be made eligible for all fiscal incentives extended to export earnings.”

NEW DELHI:

Tourism Minister KJ Alphons informed the Lok Sabha that India has emerged as a major medical tourism destination over the years.

India hosts about 1.27 million tourists from countries such as the UK, along with tourists from neighbouring countries like Bangladesh.

The government plans to bring out a policy to promote India as a key destination for medical tourism. The proposed policy aims to promote integrated treatment with allopathic, ayurveda, yoga, unani, siddha and homoeopathy (AYUSH) streams.

India has a deep tradition of yoga and Ayurvedic medicine that has been attracting health travellers for 5,000 years, wherein constant streams of medical travellers and spiritual students flocked to pursue the benefits of these alternative-healing methods.

The Union commerce ministry, along with ministries of tourism and health, has already launched a portal, www.indiahealthcaretourism.com, in three languages – Arabic, Russian and French— to provide comprehensive information to medical travellers.

A latest knowledge paper by FICCI (The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) and Quintiles IMS shows over 5, 00,000 foreign patients seek treatment in India each year.

Types of Treatments in Medical Tourism:

The report listed orthopaedics, cardiology and neurology as among the top reasons for foreign patients gong to India.

· Dental / Dentistry

· Orthopedics

· Cosmetic / Plastic Surgery

· Cancer Treatments (Oncology)

· Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

· Cardiology (Heart Surgery)

· Bariatric Surgery (Weight Loss Surgery)

· Stem Cell Therapy

· Fertility Treatment

· Eye Surgery (Ophthalmology)

· Ears, Nose and Throat (ENT)

· Organ Transplants

· Neurology

· General Diagnostics

· Rehabilitation

Types of Medical Tourism:

· Outbound: This type of medical tourism occurs when patients travel from the home country to a foreign country to receive medical treatment.

· Inbound: This type involves patients traveling from a foreign country to the home country in search of medical care.

· Domestic or Intrabound: Refers to patients traveling to another part of their own country. No international travel happens.

Cost and Earning:

The key selling points of the Indian medical tourism industry are the combination of high quality facilities, competent, English-speaking medical professionals, “cost effectiveness” and the attractions of tourism. The cost differential is huge: Open-heart surgery costs up to $70,000 in Britain and $150,000 in the US; in India’s best hospitals it could cost between $3,000 and $10,000. Knee surgery costs Rs. 3.5 lakh ($7,700) in India; in Britain it costs $16,950 (1). Dental, eye and cosmetic surgeries in western countries cost three to four times as much as in India. Medical tourists usually get a package deal that includes flights, hotels, treatment and, often, a post-operative vacation.

The highest average earnings per patient for foreigners in India are from Pakistan at $2,906. Pakistan is followed by Bangladesh ($2,084), CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries ($1,950), Russia ($1,618) and Iraq ($1,530), according to a first of its kind survey on export of health services by Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, part of the commerce ministry.

India holds advantage as a medical tourism destination due to following factors:

· Most of the doctors and surgeons at Indian hospitals are trained or have worked at some of the medical institutions in the US, Europe, or other developed nations.

· Most doctors and nurses are fluent in English.

· Top -of-the-line medical and diagnostic equipment from global international conglomerates is available at many Indian hospitals.

· Indian nurses are among the best in the world. Nearly 1000 recognized nurses-training centres in India, mostly attached to teaching hospitals, graduate nearly 10,000 nurses annually.

· Visa on arrival scheme for tourists from selected countries

· Favourable Health covers for international patients

· Remote patient follow up and assistance

Medical Tourism Guidelines in India:

The Indian Government has devised a number of frameworks consisting of medical legal guidelines. Patients and their attendants must be well-aware of all the legal rules, and medical issues that are involved as there can be a case of uncertainty in medical treatments and procedures.

Current Scenario of Medical Visa in India:

A medical visa is issued by the government of India to every medical tourist. This visa can be extended for over one year. A patient who gets this extension, he or she can visit India on medical tour in India, three times in a year, accompanied by an attendant who can be a friends or a relative.

Validity of visa and the extension of visa:

In the starting, a visa is valid for the period of the treatment or for a span of a year, whichever is less. This can be extended further for a year by the FRROs (Foreigner Regional Registration Offices) or the State Government if the patients show the medical certificate or if the same is advised by recognized /reputed /specialized medical institutions in India.

A visit that is more than just treatment:

Patients coming to India often seek more than treatment and learn wellness techniques like Yoga, Ayurveda and Naturopathy. Many facilities in India have become a destination for learning and healing together. One can opt for a complete body detox using Yoga techniques and learn them too.

While these treatments are not available in foreign countries, it becomes an opportunity for international patients to extend their stay to learn and get certified in Yoga and Ayurvedic techniques for personal well being or starting a teaching school in their own country.

Centres like Patanjali in Haridwar and Varanasi, Astang Yoga Ashrams in Mysore and Shirodhara oil massage schools in Kerala are in close vicinity of urban cities with international airports.

Many tourists extend their stay and enjoy the Indian scenery by travelling to these places to celebrate their health and add a touch of tourism to their trip.

Hospitals in India:

While several hospitals in India provide medical tourism services, the field is dominated by India's large private hospital groups which have dedicated extensive resources to promote medical tourism. Major groups include:

· Apollo Hospitals

· Aster Medcity

· The Third Eye Medical Services

· Care Hospitals

· Fortis Healthcare

· Narayana Health

· P.D Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre

· Zydus Hospital

· Shalby Hospitals

Best Medical Tourism Companies in India:

Medical Tourism company providing World Class Healthcare Facilities, Treatment Packages, Hospitals, Wellness Tour and other Medical Facility.

1 Clinic spots

2 We Care Health Services

3 Alphine Life Solutions

4 Trans Earth Medical Tourism

5 Vaidam

6 MediConnect India

7 Med Monks

8 Forerunners Healthcare

9 Mediniq

10 Global Treatment Services

11 Health Opinion

12 ARINAA Medical Tourism

CONCLUSION:

There are many more micro factors that attract medical tourists such as the relative ease in getting a donor for heart, kidney or liver transplant and commercial surrogacy being legal in India. Commercial surrogacy is very well established marked with surrogate mothers receiving medical cover, care and nutrition as covered by the foreign patients. Being an integral part of medical tourism industry, hotel industry is also offering affordable tourism and medical treatment packages to their guests. The hotels usually collaborate with several airlines and medical centers that offer quality medical care to international patients.

REFERENCES:

1. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/medical-tourism

2. http://www.imtj.com/news/india-medical tourism

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical tourism

4. http:// www.english.aljazeera.net.

5. http://www.medicalindiatourism.com/medical-guidelines

6. http://www.quora.com

7. www.clinicspots.com

8. medicaltourism.com/Forms/price-comparison

9. ficci.in/ficci-in-news-page.asp

Received on 23.06.2018 Modified on 30.07.2018

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2018; 6(4): 420-422.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2660.2018.00101.1