India to soon draft a policy to boost medical tourism
What's the story
The government might soon draft a policy to popularize India as a major haven for medical tourists.
Since India is considered as a credible destination for curative treatment, the government is keen to tap the vast potential in this sector.
The policy aims to promote holistic treatment by integrating allopathy and AYUSH (ayurveda, yoga, unani, siddha and homoeopathy) branches of medicine.
Scope
Medical tourism will be a $9 billion opportunity by 2020
Globally, the medical tourism industry is pegged around $40-60 billion. In India, it's a $3 billion industry currently but is expected to become a $9 billion opportunity by 2020.
According to FICCI, over 5 lakh international patients, particularly form SAARC countries and Africa, visit India for treatment each year.
India can become a leading medical tourism destination if it works on its health-care infrastructure.
Measures
It's now easier to get an Indian medical visa
The government is taking various measures to boost health-care facilities and promote them, and make travelling to the country easy and accessible.
The process to issue medical visas has been streamlined, and the scope of e-tourist visa widened. It now also includes short-term medical treatment. Distinct immigration counters and facilitation desks have been set up at major Indian airports to assist international patients.
Facilities
India is doing it all to attract international medical travelers
The Centre plans to build six facilitation centers in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Delhi and Goa by January 2018 exclusively for medical tourists.
It is also promoting home-stays for such travelers to bring down their lodging costs.
The union ministries of commerce, tourism and health have together launched a portal, www.indiahealthcaretourism.com, in Arabic, Russian and French to provide detailed information to all medical travelers.