3-Sub-Committees To Look Into Issues On Medical Tourism :Mahesh Sharma
14 January, New Delhi
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma announced that three Sub-Committees would be constituted immediately to look into the issues such as Regulatory; Accreditation and Marketing relating to medical and wellness tourism.
Chairing the first meeting of National Medical & Wellness Tourism Promotion Board, the Minister mentioned about the role of government as a facilitator and that the private sector has to continue to lead the medical and wellness tourism sector.
He said the Board will function in an effective, responsible, and time-bound manner to find solutions for immediate concerns in the health and tourism sector. He added that India’s competitive advantage, which lies in a large pool of well-trained medical professionals, and its cost competitiveness compared to other countries, will certainly take this niche segment of tourism to its greater height.
The Board plans to build up a Data Bank of available resources in the field of Medical and Wellness services in the country and to develop mechanism to disseminate such information to the source markets. The Board observed that the healthcare delivery system in the country has improved and there are several positive factors in the country’s healthcare system, due to which several countries now look East, particularly at India, because of the quality offered at affordable cost.
However, it was pointed out that a system needs to be devised to iron out the unevenness in the delivery system. It was reiterated by the members that more accredited hospitals, easy visa regime and providing linkages between service providers and the end user is the need of the hour to develop, promote and market India as a Medical & Wellness Tourism hub.
The Board decided to have a single responsible body, which is visible, accessible and through which, various medical systems, which are interconnected, can be reached by all. The Board unanimously agreed that a dedicated and sustained campaign on Medical and Wellness Tourism in the source markets will result in substantially enhanced medical tourist arrivals to the country, which can be led only by government interventions.
It also agreed on integrating the services under Ayurveda, Yoga and other systems. The government needs to address the issue of sensitisation of service providers, particularly in the field of Wellness and Ayurveda. Key members, including representatives of well-known hospital chains, other stakeholders and the representatives of related Government Departments, Tourism & Hospitality sectors and experts in various disciplines, including Wellness and Yoga, participated in the meeting.
Minister for Tourism Mahesh Sharma is the Chairman of the Board, while Vinod Zutshi, who is Secretary in Ministry of Tourism, is the Vice Chairman of the Board. Other key members of the Board include Yoga Guru and MD of Patanjali Ayurveda Kendra Baba Ramdev, Dr Naresh Trehan from Medanta Group, IMA Chairman SS Aggarwal, Jt MD in Apollo Hospitals Group Sangeeta Reddy and CII President Sumit Mazumder.