Health tourism spots in India that are thronged by foreigners but most Indians are unaware of
Before we begin, many of you may be wondering what the heck ‘medical tourism’ actually is? To be concise, it is a very streamlined process for people seeking to conduct treatment for their ailment in a foreign country. The which host country’s government will provide them with a medical visa and medical assistance during the course of the entire treatment.
Medical tourism is mostly undertaken by people from less-developed nations to pursue treatments that are not available in their home country. Also, people from many developed nations visit medical-tourism friendly countries to get treatments and procedures at a fraction of the cost.
Now, when the terminology is clear, let’s explore the medical tourism scenario in India.
India’s medical tourism sector is a whopping $3.5 billion industry which is pegged to grow up to 200% by the year 2020.
At least 5 lakh patients visit India each year via medical visas (maximum 6-month stay) to avail super-specialty medical care of which the most number of patients are from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Republic of Korea, Nigeria and Maldives.
India has over 33 Joint Commission International or JCI (assisted by US Medicaid) accredited hospitals which provide the best doctor-hospital combinations to patients on a case-to-case basis.
Here are the most popular cities in India for medical tourism
Chennai
Also known as ‘India’s health capital’, Chennai captures over 45% of India’s total medical tourism candidates.
Almost 200 expat patients are treated here every day! Famous hospitals for e-tourists are Global Hospital, Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre, Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, etc.
Mumbai
Famous multi-specialty hospitals like Kokilaben, Hinduja, Tata Memorial Hospital, Breach Candy Hospital, Saifee Hospital and Lilavati Hospital offer various e-tourism packages in cosmetic surgery, orthopedics, dentistry and weight loss procedures apart from all general healthcare services.
Goa
Goa is most popular in physiotherapy and naturopathy treatments. Most popular hospitals include Manipal Hospital, Vrundavan Hospital, Vintage Hospital, NUSI Hospital and Apollo Victor Hospital.
New Delhi
The city is most famous for its knee-replacement surgeries, general eye surgeries, IVF, orthodontics, heart care and neuro surgery health tourism packages.
Famous hospitals include RML (Ram Manahor Lohia) Hospital, Fortis La Femme’, Fortis Escorts Hospital, AIIMS, Rockland Hospital, BLK Super Specialty Hospital, Primus Hospital and Indraprastha Apollo Hospital.
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad offers various super-specialty medical treatments across the medical spectrum via hospitals like Sterling Hospital, Rajasthan Hospital, Akshaya Apollo Hospital, SAL Hospital, Shalby Hospital, Civil Hospital, etc.
Yeshwanthpur
This destination is famous for its physiotherapy treatments, speech, swallowing and voice treatments and other sepsis care treatments.
The Columbia Asia Referral Hospital is the most famous medical destination here. Other famous health-tourism hospitals in the city are Suguna Hospital, Fortis Hospital, Narayana Super Speciality Hospital and People Tree Hospitals
Bengaluru
Offering full-spectrum medical services especially via the Renaissance Robotical Surgical Systems and Vinci Robotical Surgical Systems for microsurgery, this city also offers oncology, nuclear medicine, nerve damage therapy and other surgical health tourism treatments as well.
Famous hospitals are Apollo Hospital, Fortis Hospital, Narayana Institute, etc.
Mohali
With super-speciality services, Mohali is the 2nd-best health-tourism destination after New Delhi in North India. Treatments in ENT, metabolic disorders, bariatric surgeries and organ transplants are most popular here in hospitals like Fortis Hospital, Amcare Hospital, Grecian Super Specialty Hospital and Osmed Healthcare Hospital.
Amritsar
Similar to Mohali, this city also supplies various medical services of which cosmetic surgery, urology, endocrinology and joint replacements are the most popular in hospitals like Fortis, KD Hospital and Ranjit Hospital.
Kerela and Kochi
Specializing in senior-citizen care and other services like radiology, podiatry, pain and palliatives, craniomaxillofacial surgery etc. especially via the Aster Medcity, these two cities have now become the second hub of super specialty treatment in South India after Chennai.
Other famous health-tourism hospitals in the two cities are:
Kerela - Rajagiri Hospital, KIMS Global Hospital, ARMC IVF, Kinder Hospitals and Gokulam Healthcare Institutions
Kochi – VPS Lakeshore Hospital, Amrita Hospital, Ayurdara, AyurVAID Hospital, KIMS Hospital, Lourdes Hospital and Sreedhareeyam Ayurvedic Eye Hospital & Research Centre.
We hope you like this article and it helps you find the right hospital for your ailment if you plan to visit India for treatment. Please share this article on social media.
