Ministries To Clear Medical Tourism Hurdles

ET&T Staff - Mumbai

As the concept of medical tourism continues to gain momentum in India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has stated that a National Accreditation Health Board has to be set up for maintaining international standards in medical facilities.

This was decided after a meeting with the Ministry of Tourism that discussed intricacies including price banding, hospital accreditation, quality control, categorisation and selection of hospitals, etc.

Minister of Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss said that the government has cleared medical visas and there is tremendous potential for tourism as well as for the health sector, with India specially being a cheap destination for medical care with highest standards. He emphasised on the modern diagnostic methods of Indian systems of medicinal care, which has been accepted as an effective system of healthcare worldwide.

Tourism Minister, Renuka Chowdhury, said that the initiative will be taken up on a pilot basis to begin with. She said that India has already been witnessing tourists coming for medical treatment, particularly for specialised care, with its reputation of being a highly skilled destination in holistic healthcare.

It has been decided that a Task Force on health tourism, constituted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, would assess the opportunities for promoting India as a health destination. It would also recommend actions to be taken by the central and state governments about super-speciality medical care, outsourcing of medical services to Indian IT-based institutes and utilise the expertise available in traditional medicines.

The Task Force, in consultation with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), is in the process of formulating a policy for accreditation of hospitals both in the modern and the Indian systems of medicine. The Ministry is also considering setting up of a National Accreditation Board for hospitals, which will not only specify various standards for hospitals but also act as a link with other national and international boards.

The Minister of Health and Family Welfare said that surgical procedures like heart bypass surgery or angioplasty come at a fraction of the cost in India as compared to western countries.

Dr Ramadoss said that measures like fast track clearance for medical patients at the airport are in the offing in coordination with other ministries. He also mentioned development of appropriate health packages for traditional therapies like yoga, meditation, ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine, which would not only attract high-end tourists from European and the Middle East countries but also give a boost within the country.

As per a Centrum report on medical tourism in India, the medical tourism industry in India is worth US$ 333 million and as per the latest estimation an additional revenue of US$ 2.2 billion is expected by 2012.