Medical tourism

India is a perfect destination for medical tourism that combines health treatment with visits to some of the most alluring and awe-inspiring places of the world. A growing number of tourists are flocking in large numbers because of the superlative medical care, equipments and facilities that India offers.

India excels in providing quality and cheap health care services to overseas tourists. The field has such lucrative potential that it can become a $2.3 billion business by 2012, states a study by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). In 2004, some 150,000 foreigners visited India for treatment, and the numbers have been rising by 15 per cent each year.

India is in the process of becoming the "Global Health Destination" owing to the following advantages:

• The cost of medical services in India is almost 30% lower to that in Western countries and the cheapest in South-east Asia.
• Language is a major comfort factor that invites so many foreign tourists to visit India for medical and health tourism. India has a large populace of good English speaking doctors, guides and medical staff. This makes it easier for foreigners to relate well to Indian doctors.
• Indian hospitals excel in cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, joint replacements, transplants, cosmetic treatments, dental care, Orthopaedic surgery and more.
• The medical services in India include full body pathology, comprehensive physical and gynecological examinations, audiometry, spirometry, Chest X-ray, 12 lead ECG, 2D echo Colour Doppler, gold standard DXA bone densitometry, body fat analysis, coronary risk markers, cancer risk markers, high strength MRI etc.
• All medical treatments and investigations are done using the latest, technologically advanced diagnostic equipments.
• Indian doctors have got an expertise in performing successful cardiac surgeries, bone marrow transplants, liver transplants, orthopaedic surgeries and other medical treatments.
• The cost of Infertility treatments in India is almost 1/4th of that in developed nations. The availability of modern assisted reproductive techniques, such as IVF, and a full range of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) services have made India the first choice for infertility treatments.