Dr. Anup Wadhawan, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, today urged the healthcare industry to set up an online portal that will facilitate international patients coming to India for treatment. The portal will have relevant information and services to help patients plan their travel and treatment.
Speaking at the 5th International Summit on Medical Value Travel – ‘Advantage Healthcare India 2019’ organized by FICCI jointly with the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Dr. Wadhawan said, “Medical value travel is beyond just treatment, it’s treatment-plus and the industry should see what are the qualitative aspects that need to be improved in our healthcare services.”
Dr. Wadhawan added that India has significant medical infrastructure, yet the majority of these are in the metro cities. To provide comprehensive medical coverage, it is imperative that rural areas should also have access to the latest and affordable healthcare.
Ms. Sangeeta Godbole, Director General, Services Export Promotion Council, Government of India, said, “India has very strong traditional healthcare ways that will help in furthering the cause of healthcare not only in our country but also in the rest of the world.”
Dr. Sangita Reddy, President-elect, FICCI, & Joint Managing Director Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited, said that India is unparalleled in delivering quality medical care at one-tenth of the global cost and aims to transform this sector so that India becomes the epicenter of medical value travel. “Concepts of telemedicine and online consultations are growing tremendously,” she added.
Dr. Harish Pillai, Chair, FICCI MVT Committee, & Chief Executive Officer, Aster India, Aster DM Healthcare Ltd, said that the Indian medical and wellness market is growing, and medical value travel is also adding to this growth. “India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing markets in medical value travel and the National Medical Value Travel Committee at FICCI has been giving recommendations to the government, advocating policy change in the sector,” added Dr. Pillai.
Dr. Narottam Puri, Adviser MVT & Health Services, FICCI, and Ex-chairman, NABH, while introducing the ‘FICCI Code of Ethical Conduct by Indian Hospitals’ said, “Hospitals signing this code provide a commitment of morality and ethics in the management of patients.”
