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Our Bureau

The cost here is much less than the $33,000 that the patients have to pay in their home countries.

Kochi June 24 While India is transforming itself as an ideal medical tourism destination for orthopaedic and heart surgeries, the trend in the last six months is laparoscopic weight reduction surgery using gastric bypass and gastric banding to reduce the size of the stomach, so that the patients cannot eat much food and loss weight automatically.

"In the last two months itself I have done laparoscopic weight reduction surgeries on more than 13 patients from the Gulf countries, the US, the UK and Australia," Dr Mohamed Ismail, Chief Laparoscopic and Thoracoscopic Surgeon, Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences and Moulana Hospital, Perinthalmanna, said.

The operations can be done in India with minimal waiting time. Laparoscopic gastric banding costs around Rs 1.65 lakh and requires only one night stay after the procedure. Laparoscopic gastric bypass costs around Rs 2-2.5 lakhwith four-day stay at the hospital. The cost is much less than the $33,000 that the patients have to pay in their home countries, after being put on the wait list for a period of one year, Dr Ismail said. This offers immense medical tourism potential.

For Indians too

Laparoscopic gastric bypass and gastric banding is one of the best surgeries for Indians as well, as most Indians eat carbohydrate-rich diet; that's the reason that obesity prevailing in India is abdominal which could lead to diabetes, high cholesterol and blood pressure that cause kidney and heart problems, he pointed out.

Today, India is transforming itself from a healthcare seeker to a world-class healthcare provider, as an increasing number of people from different continents are flocking to India in search of better health. A joint study conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry and McKinsey & Co predicts that the country could earn about $2.2 billion through medical tourism business by 2012.

More Stories on : Tourism | Health | Kerala

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