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What is
Medical Tourism?
Medical Tourism can be broadly defined
as provision of cost-effective private medical care in collaboration
with the tourism industry for patients needing surgical and other
forms of specialized treatment, being facilitated by the corporate
sector involved in medical care as well as the tourism industry-
both private and public. It aims at broad spectrum of medical
services consolidating leisure fun, rejuvenation and clean up
processes on all levels related to physical, mental and emotional
well beings. This urgent or elective medical procedure is now
emerging as a multibillion dollars Industry.
Global
Destinations of Medical Tourism
Popular medical travel worldwide
destinations are :
Brunei,
Cuba,
Hong Kong,
Hungary,
India,
Israel,
Jordan,
Lithuania,
Malaysia,
The
Philippines,
Singapore,
Thailand,
and recently,
UAE.
Popular Cosmetic Surgery travel destinations are: Argentina,
Bolivia,
Brazil,
Costa Rica,
Mexico
and
Turkey.
In Europe
Belgium
and
Poland
are also breaking into the business.
South Africa
is taking the term Medical Tourism very literally by promoting their
medical safaris: Come to see African wildlife and get a facelift in
the same trip.
The Growing Indian Medical
Tourism Market
With around 1.5 Lac foreigners visiting
India in every year for their respective treatment, Indias present
$333 millions Medical Tourism Market, can flourish to $1 to $2
billion by 2012, This would help present Indian healthcare Industry
of $17 billion, grow further by 13-30% each year
during the next six years, accounting overall 3-5% of the
total healthcare delivery market.
Reasons
for foreigners opting for Medical Tourism in India
India is relatively a newcomer in the
field of medical tourism in comparison to its Asian counterparts,
Singapore and Thailand. However, cost effectiveness, accuracy in
handling medical procedures, comparative par of infrastructure and
technology with western countries, no waiting period, wide use of
allopathic & alternative medicine, historical tourist destinations &
government initiatives, rated India amongst the worlds Must See
Top Ten Destination for Medical Tourism. Usually the medical
procedures in India amounts to half or quarter even one tenth or
sixteenth compared to that of western countries, of course, with
respect to packages opted. An
open-heart surgery could cost up to $70,000 in Britain and $150,000
in the US where as in Indias best hospitals it could cost about
$3,000-$10,000. Knee surgery (both knees) costs $7,700 in India;
compared to $16,950 in Britain.
The announcement of MVisa
/MXvisa, more than 98.6% cardiac success rate at Apollo, 0.8% death
rate, 0.3% infection rate for coronary bypass patients at
Escort compared to that
of world averages of 1.2% death rate, 1% infection rate signifies,
It is not just cost but competency that is Indias selling point.
About
43.3 million
Americans lacking health insurance, Europeans frustrated by waiting
period of National Health Services (NHS), More than 70% of the
American populations prefer a natural approach to health, around 5
Lac Americans and more than 50,000 people from the UK traveled
overseas for treatment in 2005, further paving the way for Medical
Tourism in India.
Indian Hospitals Promoting
Medical Tourism
Some well known
hospitals promoting Medical Tourism in India are:
What more should be done?
Thus, a proper synergy between
hospitals, state governments and International tour operators is
needed for earning JCI/ISO accreditations, standardizing medical
practices & price band of graded hospitals. Devising a quality
assurance model, advertising our excellence among Internationals,
clubbing together the modern medicine and natural healings therapies
like yoga, naturopathy, ayurveda etc. and controlling the whole
process under a central hub would bill India as a cost effective
global leader in health solution.
Traveler's Health:
Rapid growth of medical tourism or traveling for
leisure and fun or other purposes can increase the chances of
getting sick. It takes time to adjust to the water, food and air in
another place. Water can contain viruses, bacteria and
parasites
that cause stomach upset and diarrhea.
Nations such as India or Thailand have different
infectious diseases, and different prevalence of the same diseases,
than home nations such as the US, Canada, UK. Exposure to foreign
diseases without having built up natural immunity can be a hazard
for weakened individuals, specifically for gastrointestinal diseases
(e.g Hep A, amoebic dysentery, bacteria) which could weaken
progress, mosquito transmitted diseases, and influenza, TB, etc.
(75% of South Africans have latent TB)
Also, travel soon after
surgery can increase the risk of complications, as can vacation
activities. For example, scars will be darker and more noticeable if
they sunburn while healing. Long flights can be bad for those with
heart (thrombosis) or breathing related problems (low oxygen
environment).
So be safe by using only bottled or
purified water for drinking, making ice cubes and brushing your
teeth. If you use tap water, boil it or use iodine tablets. If you
are traveling out of the country, you might also need vaccinations
or prevention medicine. Which ones you will depend on what part of
the world you're visiting, the time of year, your age, overall
health status and previous immunizations. Be aware of recent status
of infectious disease of the foreign country you are visiting. See
your doctor 4 to 6 weeks before your trip. Because most vaccines
take time to become effective. (Ref. CDC)
Some of the Medical
Tourism information resource available in web:
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