“The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.”- Voltaire
Traveling for leisure, solo traveling, traveling for business, traveling for a wedding but have you ever came across something called traveling for medical treatment? Yes! Medical Tourism has grown as one of the top industries. In India, it is growing with each passing year. It has been estimated that The Indian medical tourism industry has 18% CAGR in 2019 which is 18% of the global medical tourism market share. Patients from out of the country and from one state to another inside India are traveling to get the best of medical services and treatments for their wellbeing. Lately, the meaning of medical tourism has been changed. Patients are now choosing a destination that offers a complete package of quality world-class treatment, ease of communication, no language barriers, and affordable traveling and residing as well as competitive pricing. India falls in the perfect sync with all the preferences. Patients inside as well as outside India are coming to selected hospitals for their treatment and healing process along with some recreation post that. Here are 6 reasons why India is being preferred for medical tourism.
1-Cost-effectiveness
The treatment cost of a certain disease is way higher in developed countries than in developing countries like India. It has been estimated that the patients can save up to 50% of the cost in India than they might spend if they traveled to a developed western country for the same treatment. The surgery charges, the hospital stay, the doctor charges, and the traveling expenses are all affordable. Even the stay near the hospitals are affordable is compared to western countries.
2-Availability of affordable hotel rooms near hospitals
The patients who travel for medical tourism always travel with some attendants or with their partners. Any treatment demands considerable days of stay post-surgery. Due to the continuous growth of medical tourism, there has been an increase in booking of hotels nearby to the hospitals. Most of the complicated surgeries for Medical Tourism are happening in metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai. Hence, people are actively booking hourly hotel in Delhi and also booking hotels in Mumbai. For instance, you can easily find good affordable hotels near AIIMS Delhi where you and your attendant can stay post-treatment. In case you are traveling with your partner, there are many couple friendly hotels available at affordable prices. During the surgery also, your friends and relatives can stay at hotel rooms on an hourly basis. Before you plan on staying, make sure to check the hotel rooms for proper hygiene and sanitization through different ways.
3-Modern technology
India is an emerging country and it gives a lot of importance in having a strong yet updated healthcare system. One of the ways to achieve that is by having modern medical technologies and recent diagnostic equipment in the hospitals. The primary and secondary treatment facilities are getting stronger in India with each passing day. Almost all the major government and private hospitals in major cities in India are having the latest technologically advanced equipment.
4-Quality of healthcare
Why would a patient from western countries like the USA and UK visit India for surgery if that quality is not par with that of the western countries? The services offered by India in the matter of healthcare is one of the best in the world and in a very considerable rate also. The doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff are highly skilled and equipped to do major life-saving surgeries. India has a huge pool of healthcare workers with adequate specialization and expertise. Almost all kinds of major surgeries like heart surgery, eye surgery, orthopedic surgery, knee transplant, bone marrow transplant and hip resurfacing, etc. are conducted in India with a higher success rates. Even the paramedical staff and nurses are highly skilled to take post-operative care of the patients.
5-Traditional healthcare therapies
Ayurveda, which is originated in India around 5000 years back is still going strong in so many different levels in healing the patients. Apart from Ayurveda, there is another traditional healthcare treatment like Homoeopathy, naturopathy, yoga, and Unani which are contributing to a significant level in the growth of medical tourism in India. The AYUSH industry is worth 10 billion dollars in 2019 and is still growing. Many foreigners come to India for an extended period of stay to heal mentally and physically through Ayurveda and Yoga. Many of the ayurvedic treatments and therapies happen at Kerala, especially in and around Kochi. There are many affordable hotels in Kochi where you can stay during your sessions as well.
6-No language Barrier
In India, most of the verbal communication happens through the language of English. India is claimed to be the second-largest English-speaking country. Apart from this, all the hospitals have multi-language interpreters employed to help someone who cannot speak English. Most of the patients from Africa are benefited from these services.
With the recent pandemic of coronavirus, India has emerged as one of the few countries which has managed to control the immediate spread of COVID19. This shows the quality of services, planning, and community health India has got. The government and the healthcare industry collaborated and managed to control the sudden initial rise of cases. The initial death rate is also controlled to a considerable rate. It is extremely difficult to fight with a deadly known virus in a population of over 1.3 billion population and India has been doing pretty good so far. Post COVID19, the position of India in the global healthcare industry will be very high. This will, in turn, will increase the no of patients traveling for medical tourism in India. More patients’ means the services will be made even more robust and well planned. That hotel rooms near by to the hospitals are expected to grow even more. Hence, this entire industry will boost the economy of the country.