Healthcare | Wednesday 8 July, 2015 12:29 pm |

Apollo Hospitals, Asia’s pioneering healthcare provider, has stated that GCC states alone accounts for 30% of the traffic of medical patient flow to Apollo institutions in India out of the 120 countries that it caters to. This fact corroborates the fact that India’s medical tourism sector is a growing source for foreign exchange and it is also a symbol of prestige and goodwill outside India. India is a lucrative market for international patients and receives a lot of inquiries about ‘M’ or medical visas; this in turn will help boost medical tourism in India.

 

India can lead the world in medical and health tourism since it has a tremendous advantage with its large pool of skilled manpower and technological edge. A sizeable number of health tourists per annum contribute in good numbers to the tourism revenue of the Indian economy. Led by Apollo Hospitals Group, the Indian healthcare today has developed international delivery capabilities and has demonstrated international excellence in all specialties with major cost advantages for people from overseas. The proven clinical competencies give India a huge competitive advantage and the estimated potential can well be realized by Indian medical institutions.  

 

“The Indian medical tourism industry is projected to reach USD2 billion with an estimated 3,200,000 medical value travellers arriving in India in 2015, growing at an annual rate of 30% based on ASSOCHAM’s report. Healthcare experts believe that this opportunity can be realized and India can target a GDP share of 2% from medical tourism in 10 years from now”, said Dr. K. Hariprasad, CEO, Apollo Hospitals.

 

“Apollo Hospitals Group is at the forefront of medical tourism to make India the global healthcare destination. Our mission is to bring healthcare of international standards within the reach of every individual. We are committed to the achievement and maintenance of excellence in education, research, and healthcare for the benefit of humanity. Providing quality healthcare of the best grade at affordable prices is our earnest endeavour as we project ourselves to be the leading institution in the medical tourism industry”, added Dr Srinidhi Chidambaram -Vice President - International Division.

 

India has the necessary medical talent, soft and hard infrastructure, and capabilities to become a major global healthcare destination. In addition to the cost advantage of providing best in class medical service at around 10% of global costs, the unique Indian care and compassionate service is often preferred in comparison to other countries. 

“Comparing global prices for medical treatment, India leads in the race for providing quality healthcare services at affordable prices. A knee replacement on average with a ceramic implant can cost about USD25,000 in USA and the same surgery in Apollo with the same implant would cost about USD7,000 in a superior category room. Most of the Apollo Hospitals doctors are trained or specialized in UK, USA, Australia, etc. and compare with the best in the world, in their chosen specialities. Apollo Hospitals has transformed 37 million lives from across 120 countries in its endeavour to provide the best healthcare services to patients”, concluded Dr. Hariprasad.

 

Apollo Hospitals has successfully treated over 60,000 foreign patients from across the world in last five years and the numbers are looking up every year. Middle Eastern patients come to India for treatment to units like Apollo Chennai for an entire gamut of super specialty services from Robotic Spine to Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) to even Heart Transplant.  

 

The scenario in the West is quite different as at National Health Service (NHS), UK alone has over a million patients waiting to be treated. Thousands of uninsured Americans now have the option to come to Apollo Hospitals for tertiary care needs. Similarly Africa, CIS Countries in Central Asia, and South East Asia present huge opportunities in terms of patients seeking medical help abroad. Less waiting times and better treatment at comparatively lower prices are prime factors - the key decision driving points which guide international patients to choose India as the point of medical destination for treatment.