New Delhi: With an aim to promote healthcare services exports from India, the FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry) on Friday launched the Advantage Healthcare India 2017 global summit in joint collaboration with the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Government of India, and Service Export Promotion Council (SEPC).
The Advantage Healthcare India 2017 global summit is the third international summit on medical value travel (medical tourism), which will be organised in Bengaluru from October 12 to 14 this year.
Secretary of the Department of Commerce and Ministry, Rita Teaotia, while addressing the event, said, “I am happy to see that many AYUSH companies and institutions are also participating in the summit and I wish that even the finest hospitals of India should provide Ayurvedic treatment.”
According to an FICCI-IMS report, more than 500,000 foreign patients seek treatment in India each year, making it a key medical tourism destination in Asia.
It is also seen that maximum patients for heart surgery, knee transplant, cosmetic surgery and dental care come here, as the cost of treatment is considered the lowest here, compared to Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Secretary General, FICCI, Dr A Didar Singh, said on the occasion,”Medical value travel can be a USD 9 billion opportunity for India by 2020. And to fully exploit this potential, the country needs to diversify its sources of medical tourism and create a strong value proposition for foreign patients by focusing on perimeters like cost effectiveness, alternate medicine, clinical outcomes, tourism friendliness, accreditation, and patient centricity.”
-ANI