‘Medical tourism is becoming a common form of vacationing’

With Apollo Hospitals, Chennai focusing on marketing medical tourism, George Eapen, CEO, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai spoke on the emerging medical tourism sector and his hospital’s efforts to G Sankaranarayanan

On definition of medical tourism

Medical tourism can be broadly defined as provision of cost-effective private medical care in collaboration with the tourism industry for patients needing surgical and other forms of specialized treatment. This process is being facilitated by the corporate sector involved in medical care as well as the tourism industry- both private and public.

Medical tourism is becoming a common form of vacationing. In those days, people used to travel for site seeing but why most people go for a vacation is for refreshment. Hence medical tourism mixes leisure, fun and relaxation together with wellness and healthcare.

The idea of the health holiday is to offer the customers an opportunity to get away from their daily routine and come into a different relaxing surrounding. Here, they can enjoy being close to the beach and the mountains. At the same time, they are able to receive an orientation that will help them improve their lief in terms of health and general well being. It is like rejuvenation and clean up process on all levels- physical, mental and emotional.

Many people from the developed world come to India for the rejuvenation promised by yoga and Ayurvedic massage, but few consider it a destination for hip replacement or brain surgery. However, a nice blend of top-class medical expertise at attractive prices is helping a growing number of Indian corporate hospitals lure foreign patients, including from developed nations such as the UK and US.

If a liver transplant costs in the range of Rs 60 lakh in Europe and double that in the US, in Indian hospitals we have the wherewithal to do it in around Rs 15 lakh-20 lakh. Similarly, if a heart surgery in the US costs about Rs 20 lakh, we at Apollo can do it in roughly Rs 2 lakh.

On Apollo Chennai’s medical tourism endeavour

We have so far treated 95,000 international patients, many of whom are of Indian origin. We have been a frontrunner in medical tourism in India and attract patients from Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East. We have tied up with the hospitals in Mauritius, Tanzania, Bangladesh and Yemen besides running a hospital in Sri Lanka and managing a hospital in Dubai.

Medical tourism calls for ventures between healthcare providers and hospitality industry. At Apollo, we have partnered with SitaCare, the medical tourism arm of Sita Travels, the leading tours and travels operator in India. We are also in talks with several hotels in the country to introduce their guests to Apollo’s healthcare services. This is just a beginning.

We see opportunities for much more intensive collaboration with the hotels. There can be Apollo-run health checkup and wellness centres at the star hotels, which will boost the growth of both parties.

We have a tieup with Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation by which all tourists availing any of the tour packages of the corporation will get a 15 per cent off on the Apollo Preventive Health Check. The preventive health check can be conducted in any of the Apollo Hospitals or clinics spread across the country at a special discount.

On traditional Indian Medicine

The attraction of Indian traditional medicine will be a significant contributor to the inflow of foreign travellers into India. To cater to their needs of rehabilitation and rejuvenation, we have to go to the exotic locations and establish the infrastructure for the medical tourists. Apollo has identified such locations for this purpose.