Medical Tourism in India: Public Health Concerns and Regulations

This report delves into the public health concerns arising from the increasing medical tourism in India, focusing on the use of tourist visas for medical treatments. It highlights the rapid growth of the medical tourism industry, driven by affordable and private healthcare facilities, and the involve...Read More

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.

professionals from the public sector and the rural areas. In the future, it will negatively impact
the health of people, who mostly depend on the public sector for their services6.
The Report by NFHS-III stated that about a quarter of household in India report prolonged
waiting time at the hospital, which hinders them in using public health facility. The medical
tourism will worsen this situation and increase the internal brain drain. It means that the
professionals at the public sector and the rural areas to take jobs in the urban and the corporate
hospitals. It will aggravate the situation as the experienced and qualified doctors will be lured by
the corporate sector.
The Indian government is extensively promoting tourism by providing tax concessions.
However, currently, the country is facing several issues in its healthcare system and has one of
the worst healthcare indicators in the world. There are several intellectual and ethical issues in
the healthcare system of the country. Indian government has given several subsidies for
gathering the costly medical equipment for the hospital. It makes these healthcare institutions
essential responsible for offering subsidies to the poor. However, the health of the healthcare
system cannot be improved by reserving a few beds for the poor and needy.
Regulating medical tourism: Need & Recommendations
There are a few recommendations, which can be implemented for aligning the objectives of
medical tourism with the public health sector of the country.
There are several high potential areas such as African and Middle-Eastern counties such ass
Somalia and Yemen; therefore, the country should increase it resources in these areas7.
It should also focus on exchanging the healthcare knowledge in terms of skilled workforce,
healthcare practices and advanced technology8
The medical industry should develop a travel council, which can represent the doctors, hospitals,
ministry of tourism and infrastructure9.
The medical tourism council should also set up a committee for the registration of facilitators in
the country. The medical council should also facilitate accreditation among the facilitators,
which will enhance the accreditation and reliability of the services10.
6 World Health Organization. (2018). Medical visas mark growth of Indian medical tourism. Retrieved from
http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/85/3/07-010307/en/
7 Hall, C.M. (2013). Medical Tourism: The Ethics, Regulation, and Marketing of Health Mobility. Routledge.
8 Cooper, M. (2015). Current Issues and Emerging Trends in Medical Tourism: Advances in hospitality, tourism,
and the service industry (AHTSI) book series. IGI Global.
9 Goel, P. (2012). Evolution of Medical Tourism. Lulu.com.
10 FICCI., Medical Value Travel In India. [Online], http://www.ficci.in/Medical-Value-Travel-Report.pdf [n.d]

Conclusion
It can be concluded that the medical tourism is a novel concept, which can support the Indian
economy. However, the condition of the current Indian medical healthcare system is not ideal;
therefore, the government should emphasize on improving its condition. Medial tourism will
result in internal brain drain, wherein the healthcare professionals in the public healthcare will
move towards the corporate and urban hospitals. Therefore, medical tourism will should govern
these corporates.

References
World Health Organization, Medical visas mark growth of Indian medical tourism. [Online].
http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/85/3/07-010307/en/ [Accessed on: 14 June 2018].
FICCI, Medical Value Travel In India. [Online]. http://www.ficci.in/Medical-Value-Travel-
Report.pdf [Accessed on: 14 June 2018].
Connell J, Medical Tourism. CABI, 2011.
Hall C.M., Medical Tourism: The Ethics, Regulation, and Marketing of Health Mobility.
Routledge, 2013.
Cooper, M., Current Issues and Emerging Trends in Medical Tourism: Advances in hospitality,
tourism, and the service industry (AHTSI) book series. IGI Global, 2015.
Goel, P., Evolution of Medical Tourism. Lulu.co, 2012.
Hall, C.M., Medical Tourism: The Ethics, Regulation, and Marketing of Health Mobility.
Routledge, 2013.
Management Association., Medical Tourism: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice:
Breakthroughs in Research and Practice. IGI Global, 2017.