India

In 2004, 1.18 million patients from all over world traveled to India to receive health care, while Thailand cared for approximately 1.1 million medical tourists from a diverse number of countries in Asia, Europe and North America. Medical tourism in India produces an annual revenue stream of $300 million, with projected growth of up to $2 billion reported by the Union of India industry consulting with McKinsey & Co. for 2012. (Horowitz &

Rosensweig, 2007)

It is estimated that India could earn as much as $2.2 billion per year from revenues related to medical tourism by the year 2012. Medical tourism would do for India’s economic growth in the 2000s, ten to twenty times what information technology did for India’s economy in the 1990s, according to Mr. Narsinha Reddy, Manager of Marketing for Bombay Hospital, Bombay, India.

Health tourism is often hailed as a sector in which developing countries, such as India, have a huge potential for growth due to unique comparative advantages. These advantages are primarily based on their ability to provide world-class health care treatment at lower prices, combined with exotic domestic resorts for purposes of convalescence. According to the Federation of India Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the health-care market, which includes health insurance, is expected to expand by 2012 from US$ 22.2 billion, or 5.2% of gross domestic product (GDP), to between US$ 50 billion and US$ 69 billion, or 6.2% and 8.5% of GDP. (Chinai & Goswani, 2007)

Medical tourism is an example of how India is profiting from the process of globalization and the localized consequences of outsourcing. It is also a new form of consumer diplomacy for India, whereby foreigners who receive medical services in India help the country to promote itself (word-of-mouth) as a business and tourism destination to be reckoned with.

India hosts medical tourists from almost all of the western industrialized countries, especially the United Kingdom and the United States. They also welcome medical tourists from neighboring Bangladesh, China and Pakistan. India currently faces intense regional competition in this sector, particularly from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. (Chinai &

Goswani, 2007)

In terms of cost, India can offer medical services estimated at around one-fifth to one-tenth the cost of those health care services provided by industrial countries. For example, the cost of coronary bypass surgery is about five percent of what it is when conducted in developed countries, while the cost of a liver transplant is one-tenth of what it is in the United States.

Again, ample reason for medical tourists to travel and save. However, this may not be entirely necessary in the near future. “India’s Rockland Hospital is planning to open a hospital in London, England; where, in addition to regular services, follow-up care would be offered to European patients.”(Shardul & Sapna, 2005) This has yet to occur and the obstacles surrounding such an endeavor are considerable.

According to Financial Times of India, India’s 2002 national health policy specified a role for medical tourism. A year later, finance minister Jaswant Singh called for India to become a global health destination, marking the beginning of the Indian government’s direct policy to merge the nation’s medical expertise along with tourism. In addition, Indian authorities have continuously provided benefits and incentives to potential medical tourism providers, such as lowered import duties on equipment required for medical tourism to take place.

They also increased the rate of depreciation for life-saving medical equipment to further this cause. In India, given its highly decentralized political structure, cooperation between federal and state levels is crucial. Moreover, authorities have started involving the national airline in medical tourism strategies. (Milica & Karla, 2007)

In regards to the availability of health care providers with professional skills, “In India, the authorities continue to encourage medical tourism by having helped to train over 20,000 new doctors per year since 2003. Altogether, India produces some 20,000-30,000 doctors and nurses every year.” (Milica & Karla, 2007) While roughly 3 percent of Indian doctors emigrated in the 1980s, the proportion of the graduates from the all India Institute for Medical Sciences, the best in the country, was 56 percent during 1956-80 and 49 percent during the 1990s. In 2004, India received the highest number of American visas for temporary skilled workers; more than double that of the next ranking country reported by New York Times.

It may be noted that both India and the Philippines seem to have relative advantages over other countries since English remains as one of their official languages, and the one most outside its borders. Language is also important to another aspect of trade in medical services:

outsourcing. Fluency in English, coupled with a large number of highly educated people skilled in IT, engineering, and bio-medical technology has enabled India to develop a comparative advantage in the outsourcing of trained medical professionals. It has been predicted that soon India will begin outsourcing its labor to the former British colonies in Africa where English is spoken and labor is cheap. (Cetron, 2010)

India provides centers for open-heart surgery, pediatric heart surgery, hip and knee replacement, cosmetic surgery, dentistry, bone marrow transplants and cancer therapy. A joint

study by McKinsey and the Confederation of Indian Industry has estimated that medical tourism could be worth US$2 billion to the country by 2012. Indian pharmaceutical companies also meet the requirements of the US Food and Drug Administration. Promoting India as a “holistic” healing center offering spiritual and mental healing as well as physical has been seen as one potential competitive edge, given the strong base of therapies such as yoga and naturopathy. (Llamas, 2006)