Gujarat govt to promote medical tourism

With the state gaining popularity as a healthcare destination, the state government has decided to use the Navratri festival as the platform for promoting medical tourism on a global basis. Two major events have been lined up during Navratri 2004 to promote medical tourism in the state.

First is an exhibition on medical tourism, where leading hospitals of the state will display their facilities. A seminar on the issues and concerns related to medical tourism will also be organised during Navratri.

"Of late, Gujarat has emerged as a favoured destination for foreign patients. The Gujarati community constitutes 32 per cent of the 20.1 million people of Indian origin worldwide. In fact, the cost of surgery in the US or Europe is more than the cost of flying to India, getting the surgery done and sightseeing," chief minister, Narendra Modi, said last week in Ahmedabad.

The seminar will be attended by Salim Habayeb, WHO representative to India, Pratap Reddy, founder chairman of Apollo Group of Hospitals, Naresh Trehen, executive director at Escorts Heart Institute and Research centre, and H R Nagendra, director of Vivekananda Yoga Research Institute, Bangalore.

The government definitely seems intent on cashing in on the trend of Gujarat emerging as one of the preferred healthcare destination in the county. To attract medical tourists to the state, the government had published a booklet titled "Gujarat Medical Tourism" last December, and had sent it to all embassies.

The high cost of medical care in the western countries is the major reason why medical tourism is on the rise in India and Gujarat. According to the National Health Survey in the UK, the waiting list in various specialties in the UK is between 3 weeks to 1 year.