National Medical & Wellness Tourism Promotion Board holds its first meeting

The Board comprises representatives from government departments, tourism and hospitality sectors, Indian Medical Association and experts from various disciplines including wellness and yoga

The first meeting of the National Medical & Wellness Tourism Promotion Board was held recently. It was chaired by Dr Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism & Culture & Civil Aviation. The Board has representatives from government departments, tourism and hospitality sectors, Indian Medical Association and experts in various disciplines including wellness and yoga and other stakeholders. It was decided that three sub-committees would be formed to look into issues such as regulatory, accreditation and marketing.

Commenting on this, Dr SS Agarwal, National President and Dr KK Aggarwal, Honorary Secretary General of IMA in a joint statement said, “India’s competitive advantages lie in a large pool of highly-trained medical professionals, along with its cost competitiveness compared to other countries. But, rough edges in the delivery system need to be ironed out and glitches need to be removed. The need of the hour is greater number of accredited hospitals, easy visa regime and provision of linkages between the service provider and the end user.”

As Chairman of the Board, Dr Sharma said that the Board would function in an effective, responsible, and time bound manner to find solutions for immediate concerns in the efforts of health and tourism sector. He called upon the private sector to assume a leadership role in the medical and wellness tourism sector.

Reportedly, a data bank of available resources in the field of medical and wellness services in the country would be built up along with plans to disseminate this information to the source markets. The Board decided to have a single responsible body which is visible, accessible and through which the various medical systems that are interconnected can be reached by all. The Board unanimously agreed that a dedicated and sustained campaign on medical and wellness tourism in the source markets will substantially enhance medical tourist arrivals to the country, which can be led only by government interventions. It also agreed on integrating the services under ayurveda, yoga and other systems.