Hone our healer instinct
Medical tourism in India has been growing at a galloping pace. Interestingly, among the top 10 countries from where medical tourists arrive, nine happen to be majority-Muslim: Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Oman, Turkey, Iraq, the UAE, Sudan and Nigeria, the other being Nepal. This is a true, measurable sign of India's rising stature in the world.
The rise is also an indication that Indian healthcare providers have high respectability in these countries and consider it safe to seek medical care in Indian hospitals. That people of these countries choose India over other major medical tourist destinations is, of course, because Indian super-specialty hospitals provide quality care at relatively low cost (by global standards), and have highly qualified doctors and the top-end diagnostic equipment. Patients from these countries also have a cultural affinity towards India that eases their travel and negotiation of the Indian healthcare system.
Medical tourism creates jobs, brings much-coveted foreign exchange and incentivises India's healthcare sector to be at the cutting edge of medical technology. It also increases India's soft power in origin countries, and internationally. We can also hope that India's closer integration with the Muslim world through healthcare would make any anti-Muslim rhetoric costly.
'Medical value travel and health workforce mobility are important for a healthy planet,' Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in April at the inauguration of 'One Earth One Health: Advantage Healthcare India, 2023' in Delhi. GoI aspires India to become the world's No. 1 nation in medical tourism — currently, it's No.
10, as per the world tourism index. India has a long way to go. Our current share in global medical
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