Trains to Chennai from various parts of the country have for long been
nicknamed as health vehicles. People from all parts of the nation regard
Chennai as one of the best places to have quality and cost-effective medical
treatment. Added now to such trains are international flights to the
metropolis. People of different nationalities are a common sight in most of
the star hospitals in the city as they have established a reputation for
surgical treatments with quality and economy.
Visitors from as far as the US, Europe and the Gulf choose Chennai as a
destination for treatment. This has prompted many hospital managements to
initiate talks with international carriers to forge alliances so that the
task of foreign guests reaching and returning the city is made easier.
The Union Government has done its part by way of introducing medical visa
for eligible foreigners.
Industry estimates suggest that the inbound medical tourism is expected
to touch the figure of 2 lakh patients per annum bringing in over 15% of the
total earnings of corporate hospitals by 2009. A CII study reveals that more
than 1.5 lakh foreigners visited India for medical procedures last year, and
a major chunk of them took treatment from Chennai. The recent trends suggest
that out of the total market for world healthcare tourism of 150 billion
dollars, India has emerged as a major contender for a significant pie,
though the present global share of Indian hospitals is less than one per
cent.
When complicated procedures like an organ transplant from a brain-dead
person or a rare surgery for a foreign national makes headlines in the media
in other cities, such events are common place in Chennai. Heart surgery,
knee transplant, eye treatment and cosmetic surgery are said to be on top of
the list of ailments for foreign and domestic guests in Chennai hospitals.
As an innovative measure, the hospitality industry has joined hands with
hospital managements so that once the prime motive of medical treatment is
completed, the visitors could have a feel of the country's popular tourist
places. Apart from state-of-the-art infrastructure, English language skills
in the city to contribute to health tourism in Chennai.
Like IT and IT-enabled services, medical tourism too is growing in leaps
and bounds in the city. As competition gets intense in medical sector in the
metro, the signs are healthy for sustaining the growth in medical tourism.
Shiny