The Hindu Business Line : `National policy on medical tourism is the need of the hour'

Exim Bank of India is planning a comprehensive study of the potential of medical tourism in the country. Growth will spur demand for doctors and paramedical staff

Chennai , Nov. 30

The need for a comprehensive national policy on medical tourism was discussed at a seminar organised by the Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank).

Dr Vinayshil Gautam, Professor of Management Studies, IIT-Delhi, said that despite regionalisation of medical services, no State had come up with a medical tourism policy.

"Tamil Nadu, specifically Chennai, is an eye care hub, New Delhi is known for heart care and Kerala has marketed itself as an ayurveda destination. Yet none of these States has brought out a comprehensive medical tourism policy," he said.

Countries such as Thailand, China, Singapore and South Africa have national medical tourism policies, he said.

Infrastructure industry

Dr M.P. Naresh Kumar, Chairman, Harvey Group of Hospitals, said medical tourism must be looked upon as an infrastructure industry and not a services industry. "To facilitate growth in this sector we need an infrastructure investment of about Rs 10,000 crore," he said. Setting up a single bed for tertiary care services (specialised medical services) could cost about Rs 50 lakh, while that for primary care could cost about Rs 8 lakh, said Dr Kumar.

Dr S.S. Badrinath, Chairman, Sankara Nethralaya Medical Research Foundation, said growth in medical tourism could spur demand for doctors and paramedical staff. "The doctor-patient ratio in India is six doctors per ten thousand patients as opposed to 25 in the West. This is a huge opportunity for paramedics," he said.

Exim Bank is trying to come up with a comprehensive study of the potential of medical tourism in the country, Dr Gautam said.

According to a CII-McKinsey report, medical tourism is expected to generate revenues of over $2 billion by 2012 from the present $300 million.

To tap this demand the study suggests that hospitals set up information kiosks around the world to showcase their services.

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