Having some of the best hospitals and treatment centres in the world ,with excellent infrastructure and technological expertise, zero waiting time and most importantly one tenth of medical costs in the US or UK,Gujarat today has emerged as a favourable destination for medical tourism.
As medical tourism to India is estimated to growing by 30 per cent a year,Gujarat's proficiency in offering low costs, whilst ensuring services by highly trained doctors raises, high quality medical care , competitive costs, fluent English speaking staff, personalised care and access to non-conventional medical facilities in the state hospitals is likely to lure continuous inflow of patients from abroad for treatments. Moreover , traditional Indian rejuvenation methods like yoga, ayurvedic massage etc are also an added attraction.
According to Narendra Modi, Chief Minister, the healthcare sector in Gujarat consists of a widespread network of public institutions as well as a strong and competent private sector. In both these areas, the knowledge base is modern and constantly updating itself. Similarly, the technological base is also getting upgraded in a big way. In the public sector, the wide spread network boasts of better technologies being put to use to cater to the health & medical care needs to a large mass of population not only of Gujarat but also some of the neighbouring states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh & parts of Maharashtra besides a large number of Union Territories based institutions which are providing the foundation of the high quality healthcare which is available in Gujarat. The evidence for this can be seen from the fact that Gujarat has been the leader in the country in seeking accreditation for achieving the best practices and technologies in both the public and private sectors.
India's first and second general hospitals to be awarded NABH accreditation are in Gujarat, as is the first blood bank in the country to get the NABL accreditation. In the private sector also, a number of hospitals and laboratories have achieved such accreditation and quality standards in all parts of the state-Saurashtra, Central & North Gujarat as well as South Gujarat, he adds.
The state Government's healthcare outlay has risen to Rs 1900 crores in the current year, which is a rise of 58 per cent over the last year . Says Modi ,20 years down the line, Gujarat would definitely be one of the global hot spots in health care delivery, not only in terms of the quality of manpower on a vertical basis but also in terms of spread and service delivery.
In order give a boost to health tourism , the Gujarat Govt. in association with the Federation of Indian Chamber for Commerce and Industry (Ficci) had organised the Tourism Conclave 2010 in Ahmedabad recently. The major focus in this conclave was ‘healthcare’ and ‘wellness tourism’.
The conclave also saw A Ficci-Yes Bank study on 'Furthering the growth of Gujarat Tourism; With special emphasis on health and wellness tourism' being released by Jaynarayan Vyas, Minister for Tourism, Health & Family Welfare, Government of Gujarat.
The study mentioned the Geneva-based International Trade Commission’s projections of worldwide health tourism attaining a value of $188 billion by 2013, and asserted that this particular sector could play a leading role in boosting tourism in Gujarat.
In this regard, the study recommended that the government “initiate the process of hospital accreditation... to lay down industry standards”, which will in turn “help obtain the high-end insurance-driven medical tourism industry”.
Health care is more than 'medical care'. It embraces a multitude of the services provided to the individual or community by health personnel aiming at promotion, protection and restoration of the health of the people.
The medical services is functioning in Gujarat since last five decades (1951-52) under the administrative control of Health and Family Welfare Department. The Goal of the mission is to improve the availability of and access to quality health care by people, especially for those residing in rural areas, the poor, women and children in the state. Department of the Health & Family Welfare is providing the integrated health services to the people of Gujarat though its primary health care network spread across the state.
An ideal combination of technology and the human touch is what defines the healthcare industry in Gujarat. With services from small-town private practitioners to multi-speciality hospitals, the healthcare sector in the state has ensured proper and timely diagnosis and treatment of care. The sector, which formerly was based on voluntary work, today is seeing the use of new equipments and methods to offer the best of facilities in primary, secondary and tertiary care.
The best of well equipped healthcare facilities, medical technology and health insurance schemes characterise the healthcare facilities offered here. The state is being the most-sought-after for super-speciality domains like cardiology, neuro-surgery, orthopaedics, infertility treatment, joint replacement and eye surgeries. It has also the best global practices aimed at delivering seamless patient care of the highest quality.
Holistic medicinal services and cost -effective treatment is delivered through an integrated hospital network in Gujarat,. A developed network, customised packages and accreditation from global certification agencies like JCI have helped the state in emerging as the land of medical expertise. Excellent multi-speciality hospitals that boast of ultramodern infrastructure and holistic centres offering rejuvenating treatment has helped it to evolve as a lucrative destination for cost-effective healthcare facilities.
With consistent growth with, Gujarat today has emerged as the hub of healthcare facilities, especially the pharmaceutical sector, says an official of a leading pharmaceutical company.