Today’s India offers world class medical facilities, comparable with any of the western countries. India has state of the art hospitals and the best qualified doctors. With the best infrastructure, the best possible medical facilities, accompanied with the most competitive prices, you can get the treatment done in India at the lowest charges.
Patients from around the globe are beginning to realize the enormous potential of modern and traditional Indian medicine. Indian hospitals, medical establishments and the government of India have also realized the potential of this niche segment and have begun to tailor their services for foreign visitors. International marketing divisions have been set up by most of the top India Hospitals like Apollo, Max, Fortis, Wockhardt, etc. Some top medical tourism providers like MedicalSingapore, India4Health, MalaysiaMediTravel and IndiaHeals are helping the hospitals in this task. At a regional level, this nascent healthcare industry came to limelight with the arrival of ‘Naby Noor’ from Pakistan, who came for her Heart Surgery treatment to a hospital in Bangalore. Quite a few Indian state governments have with time, realized the potential of this ‘Healthcare industry’ and have been actively promoting it.
Visitors, especially from the United States of America, United Kingdom and the middle-east find Indian hospitals a very affordable and viable option to coping with insurance and National medical systems in their respective countries. Travellers prefer to combine their medical treatments with a visit to the ‘exotic east’ with their families, visiting places like the Taj Mahal in Agra, the palaces in Rajasthan, the serene beaches in Goa and the mountains of Kashmir and the backwaters of Kerela among others. The total price of an overseas treatment with airfare, hotel accommodation and even a few days of vacation is often far less than just the procedure cost back in the US or UK.
The year 2003 and 2004 saw a trickle of tourists from the healthcare systems of western countries seeking medical treatment in India. By the year 2005 and 2006 this became a deluge, much of it propelled by a blast of free publicity from programmes like 60 Minutes.
Judging by the buzz in the hospital circuit, it won’t be very long before every cosmopolitan private hospital offers yoga, ayurvedic massages, aromatherapy, mudbaths, pranic healing, reiki and meditation classes. With time more and more visitors will flock to this part of the globe for their treatment and relaxation needs.