Tourism Board

Tummy tucks and a visit to the Taj Mahal is not unusual, what with the escalating medical costs the world over, patients are flocking Eastwards to countries like India, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The quality of medical services is often found better than some of the care centre in the United States and the UK. Many countries have now developed official partnerships for speedy treatments in India for their residents most of whom have to wait for extended periods of time to undergo operations. In India, medical treatment is not only fast but would also costs a fraction of what it would costs in USA or Europe.

So, scale or whiten your tooth at $ 300 in the US, or do so at $75 in India. A smile designed at US$ 8000 can be yours at one eighth the cost in India. Forget, cosmetic surgery, a dialysis in the US will shortchange you for $ 300 as against $50 for the same procedure in Chennai. Bone marrow transplant, surgical oncology, cord blood transplants, transplants of the heart, lung, liver are all possible at lower costs in countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and India than most developed countries where health insurance continues to shoot up in a heavily taxed public health-care system.

A chance to visit India and the Far East while healing and treating ailments at affordable costs has led patients from the developed nations to utilize health services in India at a fraction of the costs in the West. Five to seven per cent of Escorts’ patients are understood to be from abroad. Most patient traffic is from West Asia, South East Asia and Africa. International health insurance companies abroad are looking to forge partnerships with renowned specialty hospitals for Non Resident Indians (NRIs) to combine their treatment in India with their annual family visits.

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Most Indian states have either established themselves as destinations for health care and tourism or are building medical brand images. Add to this, Yogic healing, Transcendental Meditation (TM) along with alternate therapies of ayurveda in India has been repackaged and redefined and goes hand in hand with India’s rise in ‘Health Tourism “also called Medical Tourism. Further, impetus has come from corporate such as the Tatas, Fortis, Max, Wockhardt, Piramal, and the Escorts group who are investing in setting up of modern hospitals in major cities. Many have in fact built health packages designed for patients, including airport pickups, visa assistance, boarding and lodging. With advanced medical and biotechnological progress, India along with Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are leaders in selling healthcare the world over.

With India’s infrastructure and technology quite at par with those in the USA, UK and Europe, also boasts of some of the best hospitals and treatment centers in the world. A favourite world getaway, India as a health and tourism destination is here to stay.

A joint report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) -McKinsey study on Health tourism says that at its current pace of growth, healthcare tourism alone can rake over US$ 1.7 billion additional revenues by 2012. Medical tourism is now a US$ 299 million industry, as about 100,000 patients come each year.

The biggest driver for healthcare tourism is the disparity in costs, nearly one fifth of the cost in the developed world. India is definitely capitalizing on its low medical costs and the expertise of its highly skilled medical fraternity.

· A heart surgery in the US costs US$ 30,000 as compared to US$ 6,000 in India.

· A bone marrow transplant in the US costs US$ 250,000 and US$ 26,000 in India

Lately, the Indian Government launched the six month medical Visa in 2005. The Visa allows a foreigner to stay for a year for medical treatment in India. In addition, the Government has also introduced policy measures such as the National Health Policy which recognizes the treatment of international patients as an export, allowing private hospitals treating international patients to enjoy the benefits of lower import duties, an increase in the rate of depreciation (from 25 per cent to 40 per cent) for life-saving medical equipment and several tax sops.

The ease in international travel, the improvement of technology and standards of care in many of the Far Eastern countries and in India score a point with patients in Britain or Canada who have to rely on the heavily taxed public health-care system for routine heart surgery, a hip resurfacing or a hip replacement which sometimes take years to be treated.

Originally published here.

A globally-recognized accreditation program has been launched in the Philippines to improve the quality of care among local healthcare providers and develop the country’s medical tourism products and offerings.

Under the aegis of its exclusive Philippine representative HealthCORE, NABH International aims to improve the conditions, systems, processes and skills of healthcare facilities and professionals in the country through internationally recognized and accredited standards.

“Accreditation is a practical solution to one of the main issues in medical tourism, which is quality and safety assurance. We can not underestimate its importance, since international accreditation allows our healthcare provider to inform patients that it has undergone external assessment which has been benchmarked globally. It builds credibility and confidence, which generates recognition among foreign patients, thereby promoting medical tourism,” said Dr. Sanjiv Malik, Board Member of NABH and Executive Director of DM Healthcare Group in UAE, who was also responsible for the marketing strategies of Taiwan Task Force for Medical Travel.

Developed and successfully implemented in India, NABH has been accredited by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) under its International Accreditation Program in 2008–one of the few accrediting organizations in the world to achieve this recognition. ISQua is an international body which grants approval to healthcare accreditation programs as a seal of excellence.

“The Philippines already has some advantages compared to other countries—we have well-trained healthcare professionals who have excellent English communication skills, and our hospitality and optimism provides an ideal place for patients to heal and recuperate. But for medical tourism to truly flourish in the Philippines, we recognize the need for the Filipino healthcare providers to be at par with world-class standards, which is exactly the goal of accreditation,” said DOT Undersecretary for Tourism Planning and Promotions Vicente Romano III.

NABH International’s accreditation process entails onsite visits and facility tours to assess if standards on access, care of patients, management of medication, patient rights and infection control are met. Standards on continuous quality improvement, good governance, facility safety, human resources and information management system are likewise evaluated by highly qualified and well-trained assessors comprised of clinicians, healthcare administrators and nursing supervisors.

“This is an opportunity for the Philippines to benchmark with the best in the world. Accreditation with NABH International results in healthcare organizations that are globally competitive and attuned to the needs and requirements of international patients,” said Dr. Girdhar J. Gyani, CEO of NABH International and Secretary General of Quality Council of India.

Aside from hospitals and clinics, NABH International also covers the accreditation of spas, wellness centers, blood banks, community health centers, and other small healthcare organizations.

“As we aspire to position the Philippines as an international healthcare destination, our world-class doctors, nurses and therapists need the same world-class facilities to practice their profession. By matching our world-class capability with the improvement of our hospitals and clinics to world-class standards, the Philippines is set to become a global hub of healthcare,” said staunch medical tourism advocate Joyce Alumno, President of HealthCORE and CEO of HIM Communications.

Aside from boosting medical tourism, the accreditation program is seen to support of the present administration’s agenda of giving universal access to high-quality healthcare.

“With NABH International’s stringent accreditation process, we can ensure that our hospitals will provide safe and effective healthcare of the highest quality and best value. At its heart, NABH is all about improving the overall healthcare system for the benefit of patients,” said Juris Umali-Soliman, CEO of HealthCORE.

Originally published here.

Mr. T G Raghu, a pioneer in the backwater tourism industry of Kerala, has started the Alleppey Tourism Development Co-operative Society Ltd (ATDC) in 1986, the first co-operative move in Kerala for promoting tourism. Conducted cruise from Alleppey to Kollam and back through the waterways of the villages was its initial venture to lure the tourists to the backwaters of the land. ‘With three tourists on board, the inaugural trip was a modest start but was a milestone in the backwater tourism of Kerala.

‘In the first trip we started with three Europeans, now 25 years down, around 250 tourists are travelling between Alappuzha and Kollam every day,’ said Mr. T G Raghu, Secretary, ATDC. It provided tourists with a rare chance to enjoy the beautiful and spectacular sights of Kuttanadu and elsewhere at very economic rates. The “Elephant Pageant”, organized with 51 elephants on 11 August 1989 from Alappuzha Recreation Ground to Municipal Ground, provided a novel experience to the tourists as well as the natives. It had organized a motor boat rally, the first of its kind, in Aleppey in 1990. In 1991, the ATDC built the first non-mechanized houseboat, providing the voyage with a nostalgic feeling.

It now aims to expand the business. It has plans to start a new resort project in Malabar especially in Wayanad, expanding its geographical presence to northern area. To connect backwaters, beaches and hill stations and to provide a complete package, the group has purchased 4.5 acres of pepper estate in Thekkady.  ‘There will be expansion in the current facility at Marari beach too’, said Mr. T.G Raghu. This, along with ten other upcoming projects, will make the Marari beach a complete destination soon. To promote farm tourism of  Kuttanadu, a rice village resort project facing the paddy fields is also on cards. A luxury resort with 40 rooms at Anakkara in Kerala-Tamil Nadu border will be completed by 2012.

The infrastructure backbone of the ATDC, such as the houseboats, luxury cruisers, resorts and villages, belong to the Edakkadu group of companies. The Edakkadu Group of Companies includes Kerala Backwaters Private Limited, Coir Village Lake Resort Private Limited, Aleppey Fishermen Village Beach Resort Private Limited, and Pepper Village Hill Resorts Private Limited. The group has a variety of properties at different destinations to enable it to provide complete Kerala tour packages connecting backwaters, beaches and hill stations.

The Coir Village Lake Resort Ltd, another group company, owns a beautiful backwater island resort which has 25 independent well appointed luxurious A/c and non A/c cottages equipped with all the modern amenities. Thick vegetation dominated by the palm trees surrounding the cottages add to the greenery and beauty of this little paradise. The four hour long cruise to Coir Village along the enchanting backwaters will be a rare opportunity to experience Kerala’s backwater life. Alleppey Fishermen Village, an exquisite beach resort situated at Mararikulam, has 10 independent air conditioned cottages. Both these properties transcend the real beats of Kerala village life.

Originally published here.