In a bid to leverage the inherent comparative and competitive advantages as a nation and position India as the most preferred healthcare destination, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has made wide-ranging recommendations to capitalise on the available opportunities in the Medical Value Travel (MVT) market.

The FICCI has recommended a 16-point agenda in this regard which includes simplified and relaxed medical visa regulations for patients including visa on arrival; multiple entry medical visa to facilitate follow-up treatments; promotion of MVT by Indian embassies; medical facilitation desk at Indian airports for medical visa holders to eliminate the problem of touts; faster immigration facilities at Indian airports; and an advisory or checklist should be provided at the time of grant of medical visa.

The list of recommendation includes access to put ambulance and stretchers at airports; fiscal laws to be relaxed for genuine foreign patients, allowing them to transfer money to India, in case of additional requirements; nodal agencies need to be created to regularly meet and discuss ways to promote and improve the Indian MVT. Representatives from the government, public and private sectors need to participate; single consultative platform, representing all the ministries involved in medical tourism, is required to aid endorsement and facilitation of medical tourism at national level; and process to be expedited for a nationally authenticated/recognized health portal by the government, with all the required information related to various healthcare options available, credible healthcare service providers as well as ranking of facilities.

Besides, the 16-point agenda for action includes extensive PR campaign, by the government, to promote India as the preferred MVT destination on the same lines as “Incredible India” and also to spread the word that Indian healthcare providers are accredited by credible and internationally recognized authority (NABH); proper training of nurses as they form the back-bone of any treatment requiring hospitalisation; there is requirement for Indian doctors to conduct OPD’s/procedures outside India. This is often a lengthy and tedious process; improving basic infrastructure, such as roads and airport facilities, in the medical hubs of the country; and promote NABH platform globally.

The current concerns of the Indian MVT industry are that it attracts only 3 per cent of MVT traffic, there is absence of effective marketing strategies, strict and lengthy visa process for foreign patients, lack of credible information, non-availability of insurance portability, highly unorganised sector, non-availability of direct flights from several countries, supplying a major chunk of medical tourists and the presence of a large number of middlemen operating in the sector, the FICCI said.  

Earlier, the FICCI had set up a Working Group on Medical Value Travel to conduct a background study and develop a framework on which a multi-stakeholder Medical Value Travel Council can be created. The overall aim of the Council was ‘to position India as the most preferred healthcare destination’.