Prahlad Singh Patel, Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism (IC), virtually attended the 5th meeting of the National Medical and Wellness Tourism Promotion Board yesterday. The Board was formed to address impediments to the growth of medical Tourism and to provide dedicated institutional framework to take forward the cause of promotion of medical tourism, wellness and yoga, ayurveda and any other format of Indian system of medicine.
During the meeting, Patel said that this is right time to promote Yoga, Ayurveda which will be the need of the times for people. Tourism Minister added that India has 34 hospitals which are accredited by the the Joint Commission International (JCI) and 578 under the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH).
“The number of hospitals under the international standards of JIC has to increase so that tourists have more hospitals to choose from. Under Ayushman Bharat a lot of hospitals have been upgraded. So now they will be incorporated into NABH and their level is elevated to JIC levels, so that people coming to India for medical tourism have more options. Infact, even visas will be granted based on recommendations from these centres and hospitals,” he added.
According to him, the medical and wellness tourism is rapidly growing. The Global Medical Tourism Market was worth USD 19.7 Billion in 2016 and estimated to be growing at a CAGR of 18.8 %, to reach USD 46.6 Billion by 2021 (Source: SEPC). Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest share of around 40% of the global market.
