India: An Emerging Destination for Medical Treatment
Last year, The Wall Street Journal, ran a feature on an Indian hospital in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, which has treated some 60,000 foreigners over the last three years. The newspaper tracked Canadian Terry Salo, who faced an unbearably painful and long wait for hip replacement until he decided to get the surgery done at the Indian hospital at a fraction of what it might have cost him in the U.S. or Europe. "People need to know that there are other options out there," says Salo, 54, who was swinging golf clubs a month after the operation.
People are getting to know that India offers world class medical treatment and facilities at extremely low rates as compared to developed countries. Proof of this increasing awareness is the fact that where earlier most people who came to India seeking medical treatment, came from neighbouring countries, today Indian hospitals attract patients from across the globe, including the U.S. and Britain.
Analysts believe that as many as 150,000 'medical tourists' came to India in 2003. A Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) - McKinsey Study, released in 2004, said medical tourism could help up market tertiary hospitals gain additional revenues of $ 1-2 billion by 2012.
'Basic orthopedic surgery in India would cost $ 4,000, whereas in the U.S., it would cost $ 30,000. If a kidney transplant in the U.S. costs $ 75-80,000 and n the U.K., 35-45,000 Pounds, in India it costs $ 7-8,000.
'In comparison to most developed countries such as U.S. or Britain, treatments like those for dental problems or major procedures like bypass surgery or angioplasty come at a fraction of the cost in India', said Dr. Naresh Trehan, Chairman of the CII National Healthcare Committee and Executive Director of the Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre (EHIRC) in Delhi.
Trehan strongly believes that India is seeing a major boom in medical tourism. "After 9/11, getting visas to the U.S. has become very difficult for patients from the Gulf countries. This, in turn, has made them look for options in South Asia and brought them to India," explains Trehan.
Trehan strongly believes that India is seeing a major boom in medical tourism. "After 9/11, getting visas to the U.S. has become very difficult for patients from the Gulf countries. This, in turn, has made them look for options in South Asia and brought them to India," explains Trehan.
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Madhur Varma, who handled foreign admissions at EHIRC and is now with Max Hospitals, cited the example of Briton Keith Dickenson who spent $ 1700 for an EECP (Enhanced External Counter Pulsation) in Delhi. The treatment would have cost him $ 18,180 - more than 10 times as much - in the Britain.
Medical camps in Afghanistan
Afghan patients have been visiting India to take advantage of medical treatment and facilities. In 2006, Indian medical institutions organized a number of free health camps in Afghanistan. Max Healthcare Institute, for example, organized such camps from April 29 to May 2 in Kabul, and from May 4-5 in Mazar-e-Sharif. Similarly, Escorts Heart Institute held free camps from May 4-6 in Kabul and from June 21-24 in Herat.
"Even in the U.S., the waiting period would have been 9 -12 months, adds Varma. Dickenson was in India for two months, during which time he not only got himself treated, but also visited a few places like Goa. When Dickenson had tried to get his treatment done in London, he was told he would have to wait six months under the National Health Service (NHS).
"Treatment under the U.K. Government's NHS is highly subsidized, but the waiting period is between six months and a year. Private health care is very expensive in these countries and there, too, appointments take time," says Dr. S.K. Sama of the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi, explaining the influx.
Among the medical procedures most often sought by foreign patients, are treatments for cardiac, gastroenterological, cancer-related and orthopedic problems, especially hip and knee replacements, as well as infertility, neurosurgery, organ transplants and plastic surgery.
Take the case of Wanjiru Espendal, who works as a nurse in London's St. George's Hospital. "Friends back home told me that IVF treatment in India is better than that in the U.K. and also much cheaper," said Espendal. "Here, I spent $ 3,409, whereas had I gone through the treatment in the U.K., I would have spent over $ 11,363".
Also, importantly, "Language is not the problem because all the medical staff with whom I need to interact, understands English". And neither was food as "there was a long menu to choose from". But, cost remains the prime consideration. Basic orthopedic surgery in India would cost $ 4,000, whereas in the U.S. it would cost $ 30,000, said industry sources. "If kidneys transplant in the U.S. costs $ 75-80,000,
and in the U.K. 35-45,000 pounds, in India it costs $ 7-8, 000," said Dr. A.S. Soin, Kidney and Liver Transplant Surgeon in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
The Net has helped the cause of medical tourism in India. "Most foreign patients start enquiries through e-mail or through the hospital website," said Dr. Soin.
There are other ways as well to attract patients. Max Healthcare, a provider of standardized and integrated world class health care services, has foreign patients coming through corporate tie-ups with embassies and multinational corporations.
Some Indian hospitals have information centers in neighbouring countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh and appointments can be fixed from across the world through their website. It has a tie-up with the Tanzanian Government, and also with authorities in Oman.
All these hospitals take considerable effort to make sure that their foreign patients enjoy a trouble-free stay. Some of them also have special cells to take care of international patients and they provide all kinds of services from pick and drop from and to the airport to arranging accommodation for the attendants.
A handful of tour operators have seen that the way of the future is medical tourism, and say they are offering medi-tours to tourists who are interested. A typical medi-tour would offer a combination of a therapy or treatment - whether mainstream or alternate - and recuperation at places of the visitor's choice. The recuperation would often include popular tourist activities. Visit medicaltourismindia.com and you will find several offers for medical tourism, each one neatly packaged and presented.
Medical Care in India
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