In India, medical tourism is seriously affected by the lockdown
Recently, NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Commerce had included the medical travel industry in one of the 12 "champion sectors' that they wanted to encourage within the services promotion council. But the health & medical tourism industry of India's $9-billion is still under the extreme corona outbreak blast. The Healthcare & Wellness Promotion Foundation, a group of medical tourism groups, recently held a meeting with private players, addressing the situation amid the world's travel breakdown and no expected resolution to COVID 19.
Traveling medical value, which involves patients traveling to India for care in modern medicine and AYUSH, is estimated to be a $3 billion Indian market. Dr. Abhik Moitra, Chairman of HBG Medical Assistance, one of the medical tourism industry players, said: "The geographies from which our patients arrive — Africa, Central Asia and most of Western Asia — are still in the early stages of coronavirus. There, the period may last even longer as they began late."
He said the industry will struggle significantly over the next six months, and it will take patients much longer to find the confidence to fly again. Founder and CEO of eExpediseHealthcare Amit Sharma, another MVT firm, said: "In recent decades, the healthcare industry has seen creative and technical developments in the clinical aspect. Foreign patients come to India for affordable treatment, but the rise in coronavirus cases is taking a toll on medical tourism. We welcome and endorse the government's move for foreign patients' safety and protection. However, the health & medical tourism industry of the $9 billion Indian is still standing with the Aworld epidemic.
The players in Medical Tourism urged the government to acknowledge Medical Value Tourism companies as an independent industry and provide financial incentives and support. They also suggested involving the COVID impact council and FICCI to help the MVT industry, bringing so much forex to the country. Players also called the government to cut restrictions on foreign patients coming to India as soon as possible, with appropriate steps to ensure that COVID-19 does not spread to such patients.
