At a time when the number of patients ailing from severe diseases is rapidly increasing in the state, a group of hospitals in Tamil Nadu, with the support of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), is planning a programme to convert the facilities in the super and multi-speciality hospitals in the state to attract the foreign medical tourists under the guise of promoting health tourism, it is learnt.

This decision is taken when the state government, eying the modern facilities in the hospitals, is implementing several healthcare schemes targeting the people of Tamil Nadu and providing health insurance benefits for special kinds of treatments. If the hospitals are turned towards foreign patients, there is criticism among the public that before long all the multi-speciality hospitals in the state will become destinations for ‘holistic healing’ and enjoyment for people/ patients from abroad.

Taking advantage of the benefits given for the promotion of tourism by government, the corporate hospitals with the support of CII are setting up havens in their healthcare centres for enjoyment and holistic treatment for the alien tourists. The managements claim that currently the hospitals in Tamil Nadu are well-equipped to provide superior quality treatments with the help of specialist doctors to the foreign patients than the services and facilities they get from their own land.

In a press meet organised at the office of the CII in Chennai, Dr S Chandrakumar, managing director of Kauvery Hospital in Chennai, said after Mumbai and Delhi, Tamil Nadu is the place where more number of foreign patients are coming for treatments. To treat diseases caused by cardiac problems, cancer, dental, joint replacement, transplant, plastic surgery, etc patients from abroad are coming in large numbers to the major cities in India. He said travel connectivity is better in Tamil Nadu compared to other cities.

“We are planning to bring all those hospitals which are engaged in providing healthcare facilities for foreign tourists under one roof because they face so many challenges in treating foreign patients. Apart from language problem, there are problems for travel arrangements, gaining visas, accommodation facilities, communication before and after the treatment and satisfying the expectations of the patients. All these have to be solved with the help of tourism department, travel agencies, Indian and foreign embassies, hospitals and the state health department, for which the CII will act as a facilitator. All the hospitals can sort out their problems and patients of particular diseases can be directed to particular hospitals of speciality treatments,” said Dr Chandrakumar.

Sources from the CII said, to implement the program CII is partnering with the Tourism and Health departments of Tamil Nadu, and it wishes to bring all the stakeholders under one platform. According to them, the major advantages of the medical tourism industry in India are its cost-effectiveness and competency along with the attractions of tourism. They said the total cost including airfare, hospital expenses, hotel accommodation and the added tourism experiences works out much less than the cost of surgery alone in many countries abroad. Chennai, Vellore, Madurai and Coimbatore have big roles in the burgeoning health tourism industry in Tamil Nadu.

To popularize the programme, CII is organising a two-day international conference and exhibition on April 19 and 20 in Chennai, which will highlight the emerging trends, opportunities and challenges in the Indian medical tourism arena, the organizers said. The conference will also make a platform to discuss the preparedness of Indian hospitals with the presence of major hospitals in the country, health insurance companies, policy makers, tourism promotion boards, hotels and resorts, health travel and tour operators and international institutions working in the area, CII source said.