The Apollo Hospitals Group has been showcasing India’s medical expertise and highlighting the country’s potential to provide comprehensive medical solutions to patients across the globe. There has been consistent flow of patients from several regions of the world, including the UK and North America. Over 95,000 international patients have undergone treatment at Apollo in the last six years.

The key reasons international patients chose India for undergoing treatment varies from country to country. Some foreign patients chose India because the required treatment was not available in their own country, while others chose as a medical destination due to its affordability, which is almost in certain cases 1/10th of the cost of similar procedures in the west.

Sangita Reddy, director-operations, said that Apollo meets the expectations of international patients with respect to good quality treatment, concern towards patients and appreciation of the problem. Medical tourism brings not only commercial benefits to a nation but also recognition, good will and reputation of services. She said patients from Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia have been treated at Hyderabad in the past. Foreign patients had been usually getting treatments at Apollo’s Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad hospitals. At Kolkata, Bangladeshi patients are getting treated, and most of the NRIs had been choosing Ahmedabad.

She mentioned that Cyrill Parry, a British national has recently undergone Birmingham Hip Re-surfacing (BHR) surgery at Apollo, a hip replacement surgery developed in Birmingham, Britain. Other international patients who have recently undergone treatment at Apollo include Damian Meela, a Tanzanian national treated for carcinoma of prostrate, Elaine Ackrill, a British national treated for cancer of uterine cervix, Arunadevi Thurairanjan, a Canadian national, treated for degeneration of cervical spine and Humanah, a 14-year old Bangladesh national treated for acute jaundice.

Around 230 babies from Tanzania had undergone heart surgeries. Mauritius government has entered into a tie up with Apollo Hospital. All of these foreign national patients could have opted for other Asian countries but instead selected India owing to the country offering a judicious mix of specialized medical expertise, success rates compared to the best medical centers in the world and treatment services at a fraction of the cost in the west.

According to a study conducted by a Mumbai based company, more than 80,000 NRIs and foreign nationals visit the country every year to get medical treatment. The number is rising rapidly, growing at a rate of around 30 per cent annually, and has the potential to generate substantial forex earnings as well as employment opportunities for the country.

Patient flow to India is further supplemented by the emergence of concepts like ‘Medical Tourism’ which includes combining healthcare with tourism potential and offering the best of the east and the west under one roof. India can maximize the benefits of medical tourism, an industry with an estimated potential of Rs.1, 500 crore, as the country is uniquely positioned with a rich cultural heritage and a number of world-class medical centers, offering specialized treatment facilities.

The Apollo group owns and manages a network of 36 hospitals, 46 primary clinics, over 135 pharmacies and provides the most advanced treatment services in more than 50 medical specialties. The group has also been instrumental in introducing telemedicine facility in India and presently operates a pan-India network of 35 telemedicine centers in areas including the interiors of northeast, rural south India and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.