Medical tourism require an inflow of cash to accelerate growth

Rajeev Taneja, Founder and CEO, Global Care talks about the government’s initiatives for medical value travel and the opportunities it offers

India has always been known as the land of rich, ancient knowledge when it comes to wellness. With Yoga, Ayush and spirituality, India has for centuries drawn the globe towards it as an answer to healing.

After the healthcare and tourism crisis during the pandemic, the world is finally opening up. This has given medical value travel the impetus to grow and bounce back. To augment the same, the government is actively working towards positioning India as the most favourable destination for medical treatments.

Initiatives like Heal in India, led by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in collaboration with other Ministries, Tourism, Ayush, Civil Aviation, India’s leading hospitals, Healthcare Facilitators and other stakeholders are all set to accelerate this growth. The web portal of Heal in India aims to draft a blueprint to connect overseas patients with hospitals and healthcare facilitators in India. In a nutshell, it is India’s proposition to the world to create easy access and approach health as a holistic concept. From the latest medical care to traditional treatments and wellness, the country has expertise for a wholesome outlook on health.

Facilities like the Ayush Visa will further help patients from across the globe access traditional treatments in India. In cognizance of the exponential growth and interest in Ayurveda, naturopathy, Unani, homoeopathy medicine, wellness etc, the Ayush sector is now valued at over 18 million USD. The Ayush visa will facilitate further growth of this sector thus, augmenting the medical value travel.

The various initiatives by the government will have the following key benefits:

Foreign exchange: One of the biggest sources of forex exchange for India, Medical value travel contributes massively to the country’s economy.

Diplomatic advantages: One of the big reasons India is benefiting from globalisation is Medical value travel. With the health diplomacy of India being a healer to the world, the government will have very positive relations with many countries of the world.

Tertiary sectors: The inbound traffic of patients from medical tourism promotes other sectors such as tourism and hospitality as well. This helps in job generation at a large scale in various tertiary sectors as well.

Job generation: The growth of the medical value travel also helps in job generation at a large scale in our country.

The government is also investing in infrastructure development in around 17 cities like Jaipur, Pune and Ahmedabad that are promising and can be strategically positioned as great destinations for medical value travel besides metropolitans like Delhi, Mumbai et al. The road ahead however is paved with challenges-

Hefty investment: Medicine and diagnostics as an industry is ever-evolving. To keep at par with the advancements worldwide and to continue bringing these advanced treatments, therapies and techniques to the country, the medical tourism sector needs to stay ahead of the curve. Investment is needed not only to build infrastructure to match the international standard but also to address the lack of adequately trained medical fraternity. From infrastructure and equipment to skilled staff, boosting medical tourism does require an inflow of cash to accelerate growth.

Skilled personnel: Medical value travel requires not only the best medical and paramedical experts, but also a well-trained and superlative support staff to provide all the non-medical / logistic services required by a patient.

Standardisation: Currently, different hospitals have different service and monetary packages for similar treatments so having standardisation or a framework will bring harmony to the process. Unanimity and a set framework for the sector will ensure that the treatments remain cost-effect and the process is transparent, thus building trust with the patients.

With the government’s comprehensive strategies to augment the sector, medical value travel in India will open a plethora of opportunities.