In fact, reported PTI, the inflow of patients is higher than what was seen in pre-Covid times.
NEW DELHI: India’s medical tourism sector, according to industry players, is bouncing back after a lull during Covid.
In fact, reported PTI, the inflow of patients is higher than what was seen in pre-Covid times.
Danish Ahmed, Co-Founder and CEO of Healthtrip, a health travel company that facilitates the treatment of foreign patients in India, pointed out that only 10 per cent of its patients were able to come to India since flights were few.
When regular flights started, the government included Bangladesh and Iraq among the countries to be connected to India.That gave the opportunity for many foreign patients to come to India.
“Even then, the number of visas issued was very restrictive and flights were expensive,” Ahmed said. “Now, patient flow is higher than pre-Covid and there is a large backlog of those who are rushing for medical care to India,” he said.
The Fortis Group of Hospitals receives around 2,800 to 3,000 international patients per month, which constitutes more than 10 per cent of the total revenue, Group Chief Operating Officer of Fortis Healthcare Ltd Anil Vinayak told PTI.
“During the pandemic, the business dropped to 10 per cent due to travel restrictions. Currently, 70-80 per cent of the medical tourism business is back, but it will still take some time to be at par with the pre-Covid level which for us meant close to 12 per cent of total revenue,” he said.
The group expects further boost in the next two quarters because of the backlog and the cost advantage that India offers, Vinayak said.
Apollo Hospitals receives patients from Bangladesh, Oman, Myanmar, Nepal, and Mauritius, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and other African countries. Dr Anupam Sibal, Apollo Hospitals Group Medical Director said that many patients come from the UK, Europe, United States and Canada.
When regular flights started, the government included Bangladesh and Iraq among the countries to be connected to India.That gave the opportunity for many foreign patients to come to India.
Most of these international patients seek medical treatment for oncology, organ transplants, cardiac procedures, orthopaedics and neurosurgery. They come to India from different places because of the value-based cost of treatment.
PTI also talked to the Managing Director of Aakash Healthcare in Delhi’s Dwarka, Dr Aashish Chaudhry, who said that the hospital had seen a 300 per cent rise in the number of patients.
“However, patients from Saudi Arabia mostly fly to Mumbai and those from African nations go to Hyderabad and Chennai, and those from Bangladesh either go to Kolkata or come here to Delhi,” he said.
Healthtrip’s Danish Ahmed believes that India’s key strength was quality at an “unbeatable cost”. “In terms of cost, India can offer 80 per cent savings compared to prices in the US, Australia, Singapore or the UK. We’re offering 60 per cent compared to the UAE, Thailand and Malaysian prices. This is very significant savings for patients given the high cost of surgical treatments.”
“What is also remarkable is that 60 per cent of the patients that come to India for surgery, get treated through medicines without any surgery. This is purely because of the quality and high ethics of the Indian medical community,” Ahmed said.
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