A host of Indian hospitals which are offering affordable treatment to scores of low income and below the poverty line patients are luring patients from Bangladesh.

In Karnataka too there are leading medical centres which offer low -cost treatment for the Bangladeshi patients. These include Narayana Hrudayalaya, Apollo Hospital, Manipal Hospital and Sri Satya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences.

The key factors which attract the poor patients to access the medical centres here are the affordable costs, availability of medical expertise and advanced medical technology. However advanced centres like the Sri Satya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences offer treatment free of cost to all patients irrespective of their economic background. The 330-bed facility at Whitefield offers state-of-the-art care in cardiology and neurology. A number of adults who are bread winners and children come here for treatment. The post operative consultation is provided via tele-link, said Dr AS Hegde, director Sri Satya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences. The telemedicine connectivity at Bhubaneswar and Kolkata allows both diagnosis and post surgical follow-ups preventing patients from unnecessary travel, he added.

Narayana Hrudayalaya which is on the Bangalore Hosur Road at Bommasandra is a 600 bed facility which has now a Health City initiative. The facility not only offers treatment for cardiac related problems but handles the entire spectrum of specialties from orthopedics, neurology, nephrology to ophthalmology, said Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, managing director, Narayana Hrudayalaya.

The initial diagnosis is made through the telemedicine link which is one of the largest telemedicine networks in the world. This is sponsored by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The Narayana Hrudayalaya Telemedicine Network runs through 26 locations in India and abroad including Bangladesh offering video consultation round-the-clock, primarily for heart patients from remote areas. The network has been instrumental in treating over 12,000 patients in the last two years, entirely free of cost. The ECG Network, using ordinary telephone lines, a large number of 'family physicians' are networked with Narayana Hrudayalaya for early diagnosis of heart attacks, said Dr. Shetty.