Public Health Concerns of Tourist Visas for Medical Treatment in India

Public health concerns involved in the use of tourist visas by foreigners to visit India for
medical treatment

Introduction
The medical tourism is the concept of travelling to a particular destination to avail the healthcare
facilities. In India, the healthcare facilities are offered with complete privacy and high
affordability. It has resulted in the immense growth of medical tourism in the country1. The
medical tourism industry is growing at a quick pace of 30% per annum and has large number of
customers in the US, Europe, Asia and Africa2. There are various stakeholders in the medical
tourism industry, namely, government of India, State tourism board, travel agents, hotels and
private hospitals.
Medical Tourism in India
The medical tourism industry has been developed by merging the medical and the tourism
industry. It is promoted in several developing countries, namely, Greece, Jordan, India and
Singapore. India has the largest healthcare sector, in terms of both revenue and employment. In
the past few years, the medical tourism has gained momentum in India and a large number of
patients arrive in India from different countries. India has several characteristics, such as well-
trained staff, allopathic and alternative system of medicine and availability of technically
advanced medical equipment3. There is opportunity for profit and a large number of corporations
are investing money to set up specialty hospitals to cater to the needs of the affluent sections of
the society.
Use of tourist visa for medical treatment: Public Concerns
The medical visa was introduced in 2005 and it is offered to the medical tourists and foreigners,
who need specialized medical treatment in the country4. The Indian authorities scrutinize the
medical documents regarding the purpose of the visit. The validity of the medical visa is one
year or the period of treatment, whichever is the longer. The purpose of the medical tourism visa
is to help the foreigners to utilize the information and knowledge gathered in the country5.
The medical tourism impacts the public health and the healthcare workers of the country. The
public healthcare workers migrate towards the private hospitals, which will impact the public
health in India. It will also increase the internal brain drain, which will attract the business
1 Hall C.M., Medical Tourism: The Ethics, Regulation, and Marketing of Health Mobility. Routledge, 2013.
2 Swain, D., & Sahu, S. Opportunities and challenges of health tourism in India. In Conference on Tourism in India–
Challenges Ahead (Vol. 15, p. 17), 2008.
3 Connell J., Medical Tourism. CABI, 2011.
4 Swain, D., & Sahu, S., Opportunities and challenges of health tourism in India. In Conference on Tourism in
India–Challenges Ahead (Vol. 15, p. 17), 2008.
5 Management Association., Medical Tourism: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice: Breakthroughs in
Research and Practice. IGI Global, 2017.