Medical Tourism: History, Global Scenario, and Indian Perspectives

Abstract

India has been coming up as a growing destination in terms of medical tourism. Medical tourism in India at present is valued around $7-8 billion dollars. High quality services in medical context at an affordable cost have made India one of the prominent destinations of medical tourism. Medical tourism in India is exponentially growing at a rate of 30% every year. Chennai is termed as the "Health Capital of India" being the region with highest footfall in terms of medical tourists with highest number of hospitals with multi- and super-specialty services offering highest quality healthcare treatment at the lowest cost. Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare are working collaboratively to promote India as a premier medical tourism destination. To facilitate the easy movement of patients for medical tourism, m-visa (medical visa) has been launched and is being promoted, which gives the patients an opportunity to stay in India for the period of their treatment. © 2021 by IGI Global. All rights reserved.