The Union Health Ministry is soon to give the stamp of approval to a select list of healthcare establishments in the country for medical tourism purposes. The ministry would also hold large-scale consultations with all stake holders to expand the scope of this accreditation programme by introducing similar system for every healthcare establishment in the country.

Speaking to pharmabiz.com, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, Health Minister, informed that the list of "accredited hospitals" sought by the Tourism Ministry for promoting health tourism would be provided soon. He said that the ministry is exploring the possibilities of bringing in accreditation under the ambit of the Clinical Establishments Regulation Act that is under preparation. "Since the Act is meant for regulating the entire health sector, accreditation of clinical establishments can also form part of it." The minister opined.

It should be noted that the Indian Healthcare Federation (IHF), a grouping of private hospitals, diagnostic centres, medical equipment manufacturers and pharmaceutical industries, had recently handed over a list of 50 hospitals spread across 15 cities to the government as potential centres for medical tourism. The health ministry is known to be going through the details before endorsing the list.

The list was prepared jointly by IHF and the CII National Committee on Healthcare on a request from the task force on health tourism formed by the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Health.