Health Tourism In India

Rao (2005) described that a substantial number of foreigners are coming to India to avail the quality medical treatment at a cost much lower than that of other countries of the world, particularly in the field of cardiology, cardiac surgery, joint replacement, ophthalmology, pathology and Indian systems of medicine etc. The government of India has constituted a task force to promote India as a health destination for persons across the globe so as to gainfully utilize the healthcare expertise and infrastructure available in the country.

Economic Times (2005) reported that according to the CII-McKinsey report on Indian healthcare, medical tourism can contribute Rs 5,000-10,000 crore additional revenue for tertiary hospitals by 2012, and will

Along with government relaxations of import duty on medical equipment and technology, as well as the possibility to acquire long term funding from financial institutions, this industry has opened up many new venture opportunities.

Baxi (2006) talked about health systems need to be reoriented to accommodate the needs of chronic disease prevention and control by enhancing the skills of healthcare providers and equipping healthcare facilities to provide services related to health promotion, risk detection and risk reduction. Chronic diseases create large adverse economic effects.

Jha (2006) wrote that apart from hosting the best and state of art medical facilities, Medicity will be positioned as a one stop destination for medical tourism in the country. Gurgaon may have more than 3,000 beds in the premium organized private medical sector. Medicity will have separate units for Ayurvedic and Unani medicine as well. The integrated hospital chain is also likely to get into tie-ups with medical universities in the US and

Our health expenditure data show that clearly. Very few nations have lower public health spending (as a share of GDP) than our own. On the other hand, about 12 developing nations exist where private spending on health is more than in India.

Jain (2006) elaborated that healthcare delivery is a mammoth task. The private sector contribution is only a minuscule through curative services. Health promotion and disease prevention has of late received the attention it deserves. Scientific evidence tells us that this is an effective and efficient approach. The role played by the private sector in India, including the large chain of reputed hospitals, in disease prevention so far has been to offer preventive checkups.

Mathur (2006) highlighted that Indian healthcare sector grows at a frantic pace transforming into a $17 billion industry with an annual growth rate of 13 percent a year, what is clear is a picture of the Indian healthcare industry which is no longer limited to only hospitals and patient safety. Today it has grown its dimensions with new concepts like medical tourism flourishing within this industry at the growth rate of 15 percent per annum, raking in over $2 billion as additional revenue by