Medical Tourism Industry - Advantage India
C.B. Venkata Krishna Prasad* Traveling abroad for health is not a new phenomenon. Medical tourism is actually thousands of years old. In ancient Greece, pilgrims and patients came from all over the Mediterranean to the sanctuary of the healing god, asklepios; the god of healing was located at Epidaurus. In roman Britain, patients took the waters at a shrine at bath, a practice that continued for 2,000 years. During 18th century wealthy Europeans used to visit health resorts in North Africa. But in the past seven years or so, the movement has accelerated sharply. It is growing rapidly and turning out to be an immense business opportunity for nations which have the strategic advantage of having resources in terms of medical technology, infrastructure and right human resources. Cross-border travel for health reasons is a $40 billon market and growing at over 15% a year throws up huge opportunities for anyone smart enough to tap it. Broadly defined as a collaboration of medical services with the tourism industry, healthcare tourism offers cost effective medical services for individuals who cannot afford these services in their country due to high costs or to people who are tired by long waiting times. Also patients from countries, where treatment is not available, can avail the benefits of healthcare tourism. Countries that are actively promoting healthcare tourism include Belgium, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Cuba, Costa Rica, Hungary, and Poland. Greece and South Africa are also emerging as new destinations. India is the latest entrant in the field of health tourism. The WTO identified four modes that will help boost trade in health care services worldwide. Medical travel is the most visible face of the increasing global trade in health care services. The other three modes are Cross border delivery of trade The