Mr. Prahlad Singh Patel, Union Minister of State (IC) for Tourism & Culture has virtually attended the 5th meeting of the National Medical and Wellness Tourism Promotion Board on December 14, 2020. The National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board was formed to address impediments to the growth of Medical Tourism and to provide a dedicated institutional framework to take forward the cause of promotion of Medical Tourism, Wellness Tourism and Yoga, Ayurveda Tourism, and any other format of Indian system of medicine covered by Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH). Eminent doctors like Dr. Naresh Trehan of Medanta, Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS, Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairman of Narayana Health are among other members of the board.
During the meeting, Mr. Patel said that this is the right time to promote Yoga, Ayurveda which will be the need of the time for people. India has 34 hospitals that are accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI) and 578 under the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH).
Mr. Patel said, “The number of hospitals under the international standards of JIC has to increase so that tourists have more hospitals to choose from. Under Ayushman Bharat a lot of hospitals have been upgraded. So now they will be incorporated into NABH and their level is elevated to JIC levels so that people coming to India for medical tourism have more options. In fact, even visas will be granted based on recommendations from these centers and hospitals.”
Mr. Patel said, “The Medical and Wellness tourism is rapidly growing. The Global Medical Tourism Market was worth USD 19.7 Billion in 2016 and estimated to be growing at a CAGR of 18.8 %, to reach USD 46.6 Billion by 2021 (Source: Services Export Promotion Council, Ministry of Commerce). Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest share of around 40% of the global market.”More than 130 countries around the world are competing for a pie of this global business. The popular medical tourism destinations include India, Brunei, Cuba, Columbia, Hong Kong, Hungry, Jordan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, and the USA, etc. It encompasses primarily and predominantly biomedical procedures, combined with travel and tourism”.
He added that the total number of inward medical tourists doubled in a span of just three years in India. In 2017, around 22 percent of arrivals from West Asia were for medical purposes, followed by 15.7 percent from Africa, according to the Indian Tourism Statistics, 2018 report.
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