RxPG News : Medical Tourism

UK Indian doctor sets shop in Goa for medical tourists

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:05:55 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) London, Aug 23 -A virtual tide in British medical tourists to India has prompted an Indian-born doctor to enter the overseas treatment market by opening a centre in Goa.

General Practitioner, Dr. Dilip Acquilla, who operates out of the South Grange NHS Medical Centre, Middlesbrough, and his wife Sushma, a specialist in public health care, launched Go-Health as a joint initiative with the 250-bed Apollo Victor Hospital, one of Asia's leading treatment centres, in Goa last month.

Acquilla said the comparatively cheap cost of surgery abroad was driving the number of Britons seeking foreign hospital beds. The exodus is forecast to increase from 50,000 last year to an anticipated 200,000 by the end of the decade.

Acquilla said the company was an 'add on' to NHS services offered by the clinic and predicted it would be in 'lifestyle' treatments, including cosmetic surgery not routinely available on the NHS, where it would experience most demand.

'It was the preserve of the rich and famous, but the ordinary person in the street wants access to it at a reasonable cost,' he said.

Typically, he said, treatments were 'half of what you pay in the UK'. He added: 'You can go to Goa, have a holiday and a treatment and still come back better off.' He claimed Go-Health was unusual in that it guaranteed pre and post operative screening by doctors in the UK.

'That's where in the past things have fallen apart because there's no one to look after people who have come back with complaints.'

The British Medical Association cautions patients about risks associated with seeking treatment abroad, but it recognised that the number of UK facilitators, such as Go-Health, was growing, the Evening Gazette, Middlesbrough, reported.

According to Tourism Research and Marketing, India is the top destination for Brits looking for nip and tucks and other elective treatments, as well as jumping waiting list for routine treatments such as joint replacements.

Success rates compare favourably with UK hospitals. India, which already has a mature pharmaceutical industry, is predicted to make pounds 1.1bn out of medical tourists by 2011.

Promote health tourism, say US-based Malayalis

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 19:04:53 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 1 - Kerala should appoint a brand ambassador to boost its health tourism industry in the US, says an umbrella grouping of Malayalis based abroad.

The Federation of Kerala Associations in North America -, which has members in North America and Canada, has asked the Indian and Kerala governments to promote the state as a destination for medical tourism.

'The brand ambassador should attract the attention of the entire US. If Kerala does it, there will be an unending stream of US citizens arriving in the state for their medical needs,' Fokana president Sasidharan Nair told reporters here.

'An open heart surgery in the US costs Rs.9 million whereas it can be done at less than half a million rupees in Kerala. Dental treatment is another sector that has huge potential here,' said Fokana general-secretary Aniyan George.

Fokana also plans to bring out a directory of Kerala-based hospitals and doctors in the US. Set up in 1983, Fokana is emerging as the biggest socio-cultural organisation of Malayalis outside Kerala.

'We have decided to construct 100 houses for the poor across the state and the first cheque - was handed over last week,' said Nair.

Now a diabetes 'lounge' in Jaipur

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 20:21:25 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Jaipur, Nov 21 (IANS) A unique one-stop store for diabetes care, that includes products like insulin, sugar-free food and healthcare books, was opened here Tuesday.

The store called 'D' Lounge has been set up by Way-to-Health, a company involved in the distribution of healthcare products.

''D' Lounge offers a complete range of products - insulin, blood monitoring meters, sugar-free food like cookies, biscuits, jams and honey. Sugar-free toothpaste is also available here,' explained Sourabh Sharma, managing partner of Way-to-Health.

Rajasthan Health Minister Digambar Singh inaugurated the lounge.

'It is a unique concept and caters to unmet needs of diabetes patients since the shop has a variety of diabetes care products under one roof,' said Singh.

'D' Lounge also has a collection of books on management of diabetes, which patients can buy or read at the store itself.

According to Singh, about 13 percent of Jaipur's population suffers from diabetes.

Chhattisgarh to become eco-tourism hub

Wed, 03 May 2006 01:02:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Chhattisgarh will soon open herbal shops offering medicinal facilities at over 35 tourist sites and rest houses in a bid to become a hub of eco-tourism.

"Foreign and domestic tourists visiting Chhattisgarh's 35 natural and religious tourists sites will get herbal medicinal facilities," Tourism Minister Brijmohan Agrawal told IANS.

He said the state would set up a 25-acre herbal and medicinal park in the Kurud area of Dhamtari district, near Raipur, to supply products to these herbal shops.

The minister also added that the government was focusing on creating world-class infrastructure facilities in and around tourist sites.

"Private firms have flooded the government with proposals to bring in over Rs. 400 billion in the tourism sector," he said.

According to him, a majority of the proposals are for eco-tourism and infrastructure development, apart from the construction of over 100 hotels and motels on roads connecting popular tourist sites.

Among the tourist attractions in Chhattisgarh are the Indravati river fall in Bastar, the Kanger valley national park, and the Buddhist religious centre in Sirpur, Mahasamund district.

The state is also known for caves and rocks, which are centuries old.

Chhattisgarh is one of the richest bio-diversity zones of the country with 44 percent of its area under forest cover.

The Indian government has recognised Chhattisgarh as a "maximum tourism potential" state and will help its endeavours in establishing itself as a centre of eco-tourism.

Obesity cure lures foreigners to India

Wed, 03 May 2006 00:53:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Christine is a Canadian, Amir a Bangladesh-born American and Hardeep a Sikh from the US. What binds them is their desperation to get freedom from those extra pounds through much cheaper surgery in Indian metros.

They do not want to be anorexic but are desperate nevertheless to rid themselves of their obesity and lead a better life.

Obese people across the world are flooding the email box of noted laparoscopic surgeons such as B. Ramana in Kolkata for dates to undergo operations. Kolkata is considered one of the emerging medical tourism destinations in India.

"I am looking for a hospital that does good quality, affordable laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery. Please tell me if this is possible in your hospital," asks Christine.

Amir says: "I have minor diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol and I weigh 360 lbs. I have to urinate three to five times at night. I wake up in the middle of the night due to breathlessness. My family has a history of obesity."

Said Ramana: "There is a previously unrecognised need for morbidly obese patients to undergo surgery to reduce weight. We call it bariatric surgery and it is the only proven way to achieve major weigh loss and sustain it.

"Because there is a long queue for such operations abroad and because it is far economical here, we are flooded with queries from abroad for operation dates in India."

He says the international demand for such surgery was very high, adding that he received email and telephonic enquiries every other day. "Many of these patients expect a package deal with a vacation and pick up.

"In this new development of laparoscopic bariatric surgery, there are many procedures that we use. In one type of procedure, the capacity of the stomach to take food is drastically reduced," says the surgeon.

"We insert a silicon band just beneath the junction of the food pipe and the stomach. There is another procedure called a 'sleeve gastrectomy', whereby 60 percent of the stomach is removed and the shape of the stomach is changed to a tubular organ," explains Ramana.

"In another type of operation, the capacity of the stomach is severely reduced (20-25 cc) and its ability to digest food is severely impaired, by bypassing the major portion of the digestive tract. This is called 'Gastric Bypass', which is now considered to be the gold standard in bariatric operations."

According to him, these procedures are common in the West and are gradually picking up in India, with the increase in awareness about the problem.

"We are confident that this trend is going to be big in the coming days," Ramana told IANS in an interview.

During the past 20 years, obesity among adults has risen significantly in the US. The latest data from the National Centre for Health Statistics show that 30 percent of adults there, accounting for over 60 million people, are obese.

India itself is one of the top 10 obese nations, according to WHO.

Traditional tourist spots still attract foreigners by the hordes to India, but lately, medical tourism is proving to be one of the most lucrative and viable options.

About 150,000 "medical tourists" visit the country on average and their number is expected to soar every year. A research by international consultancy major McKinsey revealed that the medical tourism industry in the country was growing by 30 percent every year.

It further observed that if medical tourism were to touch 25 percent of the private upmarket players, it would boost revenue.

"Obesity cure by operations in India can form a major chunk of our medical tourism revenues in future," Ramana added.

With globally recognised healthcare professionals, holistic medicinal services and low cost treatment, India can earn $5 billion a year and attract over one million health tourists a year, says the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

International-class add-ons a must to top hospitals

Tue, 25 Apr 2006 20:32:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) With India firmly establishing itself as a medical tourism destination, top hospitals here are offering facilities hitherto found in only upmarket hotels - travel desks, multi-cuisine menus, translators and the like.

"An international travel desk is one of the prime requirements of a hospital servicing foreign patients," said Karan Thakur of the Indraprastha Apollo hospital here.

With the Indian medical tourism industry expanding at the rate of 20 to 30 percent every year, super-specialty hospitals here are increasingly becoming more sensitive to the needs and requirements of foreigners who come here to take advantage of the cost-effective medical facilities on offer.

Thus top hospitals like Apollo and Sir Ganga Ram here are providing travel facilities akin to the best offered by the hotel industry.

Patients and their families are not just assured of a pleasant and comfortable experience throughout their stay, the hospitals arrange for everything they need from the time they arrive in India till they board their flight home.

From airport pickups and drops to making available language translators, hospitals even arrange accommodation for patients' families.

"We arrange for translators as many of the patients or their families have difficulty in communicating in English," said Mohammad Akmal, Apollo's assistant manager for international marketing.

Some hospitals also take care of the visa and forex requirements of foreign tourists.

"We have been helping our foreign patients by providing them money exchange facility," said S.K Sama, chairman of the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

Multi-cuisine facilities are available in almost all big hospitals.

"The facilities we provide here are no less than a five-star hotel. It's the requirement of the age and we have to keep pace with it," Sama added.

"Some hospitals are even running their own air ambulance services," said Sohail Kadri, an agent with Akbar Travels in Gujarat that caters to tourists coming to super-specialty hospitals located in Ahmedabad.

"This also gives hospitals the ability to evacuate injured foreign tourists from adventure sports and trekking sites and transport them to a hospital," he added.