Back A healthy trend
K.G. Kumar
| Kerala, which is currently going through a boom in private medical services, must chase technological sophistication and infrastructure if it wishes to maintain its market niche in medical tourism. |
Kochi, the commercial capital of Kerala, was host to Kerala Health Tourism 2007, an international meet on health tourism organised jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Kerala Tourism and various stakeholders in the healthcare industry last week.
At the conclusion of the meet, Union Secretary for Tourism A. K. Mishra announced that the Union Government would launch a campaign to spread awareness about the health tourism potential of the country, as part of the "Incredible India" marketing campaign.
In its second year of existence, the current edition of the Kerala Health Tourism summit attracted hundreds of delegates from India and abroad, including business visitors from the UK, the US, Canada, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Dubai, Muscat, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, major hospitals, health insurance companies, policymakers and international institutions for promotion of health tourism.
MEDICAL TOURISM YEAR
Navaz Meeran, President of CII's Kerala Chapter, points out that the number of medical tourists arriving in Kerala had risen by 30 to 40 per cent after last year's health summit. CII, which has declared 2006-07 as `Medical Tourism Year' in Kerala, believes the State is particularly well placed to host medical tourists since it boasts healthcare standards that has been acknowledged internationally, including by world bodies such as the World Health Organisation.
According to a CII-McKinsey study, medical tourism in India could become a $2.3 billion business by 2012. In 2004, some 150,000 foreigners visited India for treatment, and the numbers have been rising by 15 per cent a year. Around the time of the study, The Guardian of London reported the case of a British citizen who needed a heart bypass operation. He had the choice of waiting six months in the queue of the National Health Service or pay £19,000 to be operated on scalpel immediately in a private hospital.
In the end, The Guardian reported, the patient chose to outsource his operation to India and flew 5,000 miles to Bangalore's Wockhardt hospital for a bypass procedure that cost just £4,800, including the flight.
The Guardian also quotes the comparative treatment costs for some other common surgeries: Heart bypass: the UK £15,000, France: £13,000, the US £13,250, India: £4,300; hip replacement: the UK: £9,000, France: £7,600, the US: £15,900, India: £3,180; cataract operation: the UK: £2,900, France: £1,000, the US: £2,120, India: £660.
An analysis by the Florida International University (FIU) Hospitality Review found that the cost of surgery in India, Thailand or South Africa can be one-tenth of what it is in the US or Western Europe, and sometimes even less. A heart-valve replacement that would cost $200,000 or more in the US, for example, goes for $10,000 in India - and that includes round-trip airfare and a brief vacation package. Similarly, a metal-free dental bridge worth $5,500 in the US costs $500 in India, says the Review.
VAST MARKET
The prognosis for medical tourism is good. By 2015, the health of the vast `Baby Boom' generation will have begun its slow, final decline, and, with more than 220 million Boomers in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, this represents a significant market for inexpensive, high-quality medical care, says the FIU study. Medical tourism will be particularly attractive in the US, where an estimated 43 million people are without health insurance and 120 million without dental coverage.
All this augurs well for Kerala, which is currently going through a boom in private medical services. The number of medical tourists visiting Kerala was close to 15,000 in 2006 and is expected to touch 100,000 by 2010. Analysts say that medical tourists spend more - the average spending of a medical tourist could be as high as Rs 500,000, compared to the Rs 6,000 an ordinary tourist would fork out.
Yet, Kerala will have to contend with competition around the corner. Thailand is the greatest threat, with six medical facilities in Bangkok alone boasting hospital accreditation from the US. Add to that the traditional attraction of the beach destination Phuket, which has its own tourist-oriented medical communities, and Thailand can easily triumph as the major destination for medical vacationers seeking cosmetic surgery, dental treatments, eye surgery, kidney dialysis and organ transplantation.
However, India is not far behind and several Indian pharmaceuticals have been able to meet the stringent requirements of the US Food and Drug Administration.
Frederick J. DeMicco, ARAMARK Chair in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management, and Marvin Cetron, founder and president of Forecasting International, say that as a relative newcomer to medical tourism, India is quickly catching up with Thailand.
Kerala's clinics thus need to increasingly equip themselves with the latest electronic and medical diagnostic equipment, and chase technological sophistication and infrastructure. Only then can the State aspire to maintain its market niche in the field of medical tourism.
The writer can be contacted at kgkumar@gmail.com
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