The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Cure and tour

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Cure and tour — Chennai emerging major hub

City Bureau

“Our aim is to make Tamil Nadu a global healing destination,” says M. Rajaram, Director of Tourism

— Photo: K. Pichumani

GROWING IN NUMBERS: It is healthcare facilities and renowned specialists, which are attracting more medical tourists to Chennai. .

CHENNAI: If it is true that India is fast emerging as a hub of medical tourism, then, indeed it is also true that Chennai is at the head of that revolution. Chennai has never been lacking in multi-speciality hospitals and they were smart to see the potential much before the rest of the nation did. This meant, Chennai aggressively promoted the concept of medical tourism, serving not only domestic tourists but also those from the rest of the world coming over to be healed.

Never before have medicine and tourism coalesced so smoothly to make such a good business. For medical tourism is not just about treating people for their ailments, but also giving them a slice of the city they have come to — in this case, Chennai. Some of the early players in Chennai include the Apollo Hospital group, MIOT Hospitals, Madras Medical Mission, Sankara Nethralaya, Sri Ramachandra University Hospital, Vijaya Hospital and this list is, by no means, exhaustive. Since the early years, a number of hospitals — speciality centres — offering unique options to patients at prices much below what is being charged in the large part of the Western world have sprung up.

With every hospital, however, there is a clear pattern — in terms of the countries from which “patient tourists” hail. The African countries, West Asia and Afghanistan keep blipping up on the radar. Indian expats have begun coming back home to get complex surgeries or procedures done.

“The potential of Chennai is very good as a health tourism hub. The number of patients we are getting has doubled in the last five years. ,” says PVA Mohan Das, managing director of MIOT Hospitals. Chennai’s advantage is its position on the global map and ease of accessibility, besides the presence of many specialists and care centres, offering service at affordable rates. “Our aim is to make Tamil Nadu a global healing destination,” says M. Rajaram, Director of Tourism and managing director of Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation.

The TTDC had identified a voluntary non-profit medical organisation Meditour India as nodal agency for promoting medical tourism in the State, involving medical practitioners, tourism department staff and medical department nominees. A special medical tourism desk has been set up at the TTDC office on Wallajah Road. Tourist guide K. N. Anandhi, who often accompanies foreigners seeking medicare in India, says that with the right kind of impetus from the State Government medical tourism could scale to even greater heights.

Airlines often make special arrangements for medical patients, from assistance in disembarking from aircrafts to arranging for ambulance services at the airport. International airlines such as Emirates have even made arrangements to provide seriously ill patients with oxygen supply during travel. For travel within India, airlines such as Air India offer concessions in fares. For passengers requiring stretcher service, nine seats on the aircraft will be removed to accommodate the patient.

Madras Medical Mission (MMM) gets its overseas patients mainly from Afro-Asian countries through private-public partnership programmes. MMM’s chief executive officer A. John Punnoose said it received patients from Iraq, Nepal, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Africa and Afghanistan. The hospital has a tie-up with either the health ministries of respective countries or social organisations that route the patients to Chennai.

While patients come in shopping for all kinds of treatments, renal failure, and cardiac, orthopaedic, fertility, and paediatric problems are some of the more sought-after interventions.

However, no such list can be exhaustive, considering the wide range of complaints people come to Chennai seeking treatment for and the rapid advancements in technology.

Madras ENT Research Foundation managing director Mohan Kameswaran said patients from Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Kenya, East Africa and Europe came for specialised surgeries such as cochlear implants and tracheal stenosis, apart from routine surgeries and treatment for voice disorders.

Chennai’s Apollo Hospitals receives about 20,000 international patients every year, of which over 2,000 come as medical tourists. International patients are referred by doctors in countries such as Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Mauritius. In Guyana Indian referral doctors refer patients to India. The hospital has tied up with over 10 international insurance companies, has third party administrators in some countries and in some others it has set up office too.

It has also tied up with SOS International and Emergency Assistance, Japan, to airlift sick patients and bring them to India for treatment. In countries such as Oman and Mauritius, Apollo has tied up with the Health Ministries. Medical tourists come for elective surgeries. Birmingham hip resurfacing surgery is the preferred treatment in countries such as the U.K., the U.S. and Canada. Patients who have been suggested hip replacement surgery seek Chennai for resurfacing surgery, said Jithu Jose, Manager, International Patient Services at Apollo Hospitals. Chennai Medical Tourism, a fledgling division of Chennai Marketing Services, networks with doctors more than hospitals.

R. Sathish, the division’s manager, said, “Some Sri Lankan patients cannot afford the high-end hospitals. A doctor, who may also consult at a smaller hospital, will treat them there.”

After treatment, the families of patients usually take a break. City tours and Puducherry or Mahabalipuram trips are popular.

Some patients have even started combining business trips with treatment.

Recently, a Japanese patient, who was on a work-related trip to Chennai, opted for kidney dialysis, said a medical tourism agent.

(With inputs from T. S. Shankar, Ramya Kannan, R. Sujatha, Ananth Krishnan, K.Lakshmi and Kannal Achuthan)

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